In the wake of relentless rains across Uttarakhand, two children lost their lives when a wall collapsed in Tehri on Sunday. Meanwhile, rescuers continued their search for the 20 missing individuals involved in the Gaurikund landslide incident for the third day amidst challenging weather conditions.

For Sunday, the weather department predicted a likelihood of light to moderate rainfall in south Delhi, Indirapuram and Gurugram. However, subdued rainfall activity has been predicted over central and peninsular India during the next 4-5 days.

Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely along the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, north Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim over the next 4-5 days.

Uttar Pradesh is likely to witness thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain in several areas including Deoband, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnaur, Hastinapur and Amroha, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.

20 still missing after Gaurikund landslide

The devastating landslide in Gaurikund, Rudraprayag, had left 23 people unaccounted for, with three bodies recovered from the debris on Friday.

Authorities, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), SDRF, police, and fire brigade teams, have been tirelessly conducting the search operation along the Mandakini River and the incident site, but so far, no sign of the missing persons has been found, according to Rudraprayag's District Disaster Management Officer, Nandan Singh Rajwar.

After the Rudraprayag landslide, the local administration has taken precautionary measures and started marking roadside shops between Sonprayag and Gaurikund that are at risk. The Revenue Department has already removed some shops, while the community in Gaurikund is voluntarily dismantling their temporary shops along the road in response to the potential danger.

Jitendra Verma, Sub-Collector of Ukhimath, mentioned that the administration is categorising construction works based on the risk they pose. Four high-risk pucca houses have been removed, and other temporary shops are being taken down by their operators themselves.

Wall collapses in Uttarakhand, kills two children

Two children lost their lives, and their grandfather was injured in New Tehri, Uttarakhand, due to a wall collapse. The incident occurred during the early hours of Sunday after heavy rainfall in Maroda village, Dhanaulti tehsil.

At around 2 am, the wall of their house collapsed on Paveen Das' children, Sneha (12) and Ranveer (10), while they were sleeping. Local authorities from the Chamba police station and administration promptly responded to the scene.

They managed to rescue the children from the debris and rushed them to a nearby primary health centre. Unfortunately, the doctors declared them brought dead.

The children's grandfather, Premdas (60), sustained a minor leg injury during the collapse.

Haryana, Punjab receive over 40% excess rain

Recently hit by floods, Haryana and Punjab received over 40 percent excess rainfall in July, the IMD said.

While Haryana recorded 59 per cent excess rainfall, Punjab logged an excess of 44 per cent, it added.

The Union Territory of Chhattisgarh received 170 percent excess rain. As against the normal of 273.2 mm for the period, Chandigarh received 738.7 mm of rainfall. In July, the city even recorded an all-time high of 302.2 mm in a span of 24 hours, the official said.

The floods last month in several parts of Punjab and Haryana claimed over 80 lives in these states and caused huge damage to crops and property.

With agency inputs.

First Published:Aug 6, 2023 5:10 PM IST