Uttarakhand flash floods: One dead, 66 still missing as rescue efforts continue
Weeks of heavy rain have pounded Uttarakhand, with Uttarkashi region - home to Dharali village - among the worst hit by flooding.Around 1,300 people have been rescued from near Dharali since last week, officials said.Heavy rains last week had led to the swelling of the Kheerganga river in the region, sending tonnes of muddy waters gushing downwards on the hilly terrain, covering roads, buildings and shops in Dharali and nearby Harsil village.Videos showed a giant wave of water gushing through the area, crumpling buildings in its path, giving little time for people to escape.Uttarakhand's chief minister and other officials initially said the flash floods were caused by a cloudburst, but India's weather department has not confirmed this. Vinay Shankar Pandey, a senior local official, said a team of 10 geologists has been sent to the village to determine the cause of the flash floods.The sludge from Kheerganga blocked a part of the region's main river Bhagirathi [which becomes India's holiest river Ganges once it travels downstream] and created an artificial lake, submerging vast tracts of land, including a government helipad.Rescue workers are still trying to drain the lake, which had initially receded but filled up again after more rains.Mr Pandey said in a statement that a list of missing people included 24 Nepalese workers, 14 locals, nine army personnel and 13 and six individuals from the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively.Locals, however, have told reporters that more people from the area are still unaccounted for.
Rescue officials are using helicopters to reach Dharali, which is still blocked by debris.A temporary bridge has also been built to allow easier access as workers continue to try and clear the blocked roads."Efforts are continuously being made to remove the debris and construct roads in Dharali to restore order," Mr Pandey said.Sniffer dogs and earth-moving machinery are searching for those trapped beneath the rubble.A rescue worker told the Press Trust of India that they were manually digging through the debris where a hotel had stood before the disaster hit. "There was some movement of people in front of it when the disaster struck. The debris here is being dug manually with the help of radar equipment as people might be buried here," he said.On Monday, a road-repair machine near Kheerganga plunged into a swollen river; its driver is missing, and the machine remains unrecovered.India's weather department has predicted heavy rains and thunderstorms for various parts of Uttarakhand till 14 August with high alerts issued for eight districts, including Garhwal.
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