Dharali was not the only village to be hit.
Disaster swept through Dharali village in Uttarakhand on Tuesday after a massive cloudburst triggered flash floods that barrelled through homes, trees and vehicles, trapping dozens of people and leaving at least five dead.
Here are the top 10 developments:
- Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday held a disaster management meeting at the State Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) as five people were killed in the cloudburst and flash flood in Uttarkashi's Dharali.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to Mr Dhami for an update on the situation and assured him of the Centre's assistance. The Chief Minister also surveyed the flooded area in Dharali and Harsil from a helicopter.
- The cloudburst - somewhere in the catchment area of the Kheer Ganga river - occurred at around 1.50am on Tuesday and the sudden gush of floodwaters, slush and rubble buried at least half the village. Around 130 people have been evacuated to safety, officials said. There was no official confirmation on the number of people who went missing after the flashflood.
- Videos from the area showed a torrent of muddy water and silt tearing through the slopes towards settlements along the banks of the river. People could be heard screaming in fear. Contiguous buildings, including three and four-storey houses, fell like a pack of cards as the surging waters washed over them.
- Dharali was not the only village to be hit. The raging waters flowed down two different sides of the same hill, one towards Dharali and the other towards the village of Sukki, according to state Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman. A red alert is still in place in Uttarkashi.
- At least 11 Army jawans are reported missing from an army camp in Harsil that was also hit by a cloudburst.
- The army, police, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force are engaged in the rescue operations. NDRF teams from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were also airlifted to the hill state. Helpline numbers have been issued by the state government and district administration. They are: 01374222126, 01374222722 and 9456556431.
- Incidents of cloudbursts and heavy rains were also reported in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh. A flash flood washed away a large part of the trekking route in the Tangling area along the Kinnaur Kailash Yatra route, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded.
- The National Highway 35 near Nigulsari in Kinnaur has been shut in view of heavy rainfall and landslides in the area. The Chandigarh-Shimla National Highway has also been closed due to landslides at Chakki Mor in Shimla. The highway has been closed due to debris falling at Chakki Mor near Parwanoo in Solan district.
- The Indian Meteorological Department issued a weather warning at 6:30 am today, forecasting light to moderate rainfall at most places in Himachal Pradesh, with a few spells of intense to very intense rainfall likely in the districts of Bilaspur, Solan, Shimla, Sirmaur, and Mandi over the next three to four hours.
