Heavy rains damage scores of houses in Tehri, block highways to Kedarnath, Yamunotri shrines

DEHRADUN: At least 30 houses were damaged and several cattle were killed in heavy rains, which wreaked havoc in Ghansali town of Tehri district on Saturday evening. The rains also triggered landslides which blocked highways leading to Kedarnath and Yamunotri shrines.
The Uttarakhand capital also witnessed strong thunderstorm, which uprooted several trees and blew off billboards.Electricity supply was also disrupted in parts of the city as many poles and wires were damaged.
Meanwhile, in the Tehri district’s Bhaiswada area, the highway leading to Kedarnath Temple got blocked due to landslide caused by the rains. The highway to Yamunotri shrine was also blocked along with Ghansali-Chamiyala road in Tehri.
Several excavators have been pressed into service to clear the highways as the Char Dham yatra is in progress.
Sitakot and Kothiyana villages of Ghansali town, located 80km from district headquarters in Tehri, were the worst affected.
According to chief development officer (CDO) Ahmed Iqbal, “Around 5-10 houses were damaged in Sitakot while 15-20 houses were partially damaged in Kothiyana due to heavy rainfall.”
He also said that additional district magistrate (ADM) has rushed to the spot to take stock of the damage and four earth-movers have been deployed to clear the debris from the roads. “Public Works Department (PWD) superintendent engineer is also camping in the area to oversee the relief work,” he said.
Meanwhile, the families living in the damaged houses were evacuated by the district administration. Their temporary stay and food arrangements have been made at nearby schools.
According to the Meteorological department office, about 75mm of rainfall lashed Ghansali area within two-hours on Saturday evening causing widespread damage to the property and livestock. Bikram Singh, the director of Meteorological Centre, warned that there is more in store.
“We had issued a warning of thunderstorm at isolated places on Saturday.
"The intensity and distribution of rain and thunderstorm will increase on Sunday and Monday with possibility of thunder squall as well," he said. On the other hand, one person was killed and four got injured after their utility vehicle fell into a gorge on Satpuli-Ekashwar road in Pauri district on Saturday morning.