On Camera, Uttarakhand Bridge Swept Away In Seconds Due To Strong Currents

Strong currents due to rising water level in a river following heavy rain in Uttarakhand swept away a bridge in the hill state's Niti Valley region.

In a video of the incident, a massive volume of water mixed with mud rushed downstream and slammed into the metal bridge in the valley which comes under Chamoli district. Within seconds, the sheer force of the water uprooted the bridge and pushed it towards the riverbank.

The video also captured a truck and an SUV on a road along the river turning away from the unfolding disaster just in time.

With the bridge gone, the area got cut-off from the main town. The authorities have asked people not to travel in this area. People should postpone their journeys until the conditions improve and the administration gives an all-clear message.

People living by the banks of rivers and streams in the valley have been asked to keep a good, safe distance as the risk of water level rising due to heavy rain has not been ruled out.

Uttarakhand Disaster Management and Rehabilitation secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said it has been raining non-stop since Sunday night. The affected areas are Dehradun, Bageshwar, Nainital, and Champawat.

"It will rain in the entire state. And the rain will continue continuously. There will be a gap of some time in the evening. After this, like it rained last night, it will rain again like this in the night," Suman told news agency ANI.

He said they are holding awareness programmes at landslide-prone areas and informing people what to do during such conditions.