Four pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh died and seven more were injured when a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall buried three vehicles near the Gangnani bridge on the Gangotri National Highway in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi, officials said on July 11.
The incident took place on Monday night when the vehicles came under debris due to the landslide from the hill near the bridge.
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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the incident and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel during heavy rains.
Three of the four bodies have been recovered and efforts are underway to pull out the fourth from the rubble, Bhatwadi Sub-Collector Chatar Singh Chauhan said.
Two of the seven people injured are in a serious condition, he said.
Mr. Chauhan said teams of police and the State Disaster Response Force reached the spot for relief and rescue operations as soon as the information came in. Local people and personnel of the Border Roads Organisation also joined the relief work.
Bridge washed away due to flood in Jummagad river
Meanwhile, floods in Jummagad river in the border area of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand have washed away the bridge built on it, blocking the Indo-Tibet border road there while contact with over a dozen border villages has also been lost.
Flooding in Jummagad river flowing near Jumma village on the Joshimath-Niti highway, about 45 km from Joshimath, continued till late night on Monday evening, during which the bridge collapsed.
The Chamoli district administration on Tuesday said motor connectivity to Kaga, Garpak, Dronagiri, Jellum, Kosa, Malari, —Mahargaon, Kailashpur, Prakiya, Bampa, Gamshali and Neeti villages — all of which lie beyond Jumma village — were cut off after the bridge was washed away in the flood. Supply to border outposts by road has also come to a standstill.
The flood water remained above the Joshimath-Malari road, which earlier stood several metres above the river, for a long time. Eyewitnesses say that mud and heavy stones were also flowing in the flooded river.
There has been no official comment on the reason for the abrupt flooding in the river but it is being speculated that landslides in the upper reaches could have stopped the flow of the river, and flooding could have been caused when the water flow found a release later.
Others point to the possibility of the melting of glaciers in the upper catchment area of the river for the flood.
Locals are also wary of the possibility of hydropower projects in the area and said it could increase the intensity of floods in the area. State Chief Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu recently met the officials of the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss the construction a big hydropower project, which has been on hold since the floods in 2013.
