Uttrakhand Clouburst: Another body recovered, toll rises to 21

DEHRADUN: Another body was recovered from the debris in cloudburst-hit Bastadi village in Pithoragarh district, raising the toll in rain-related incidents in the state to 21, while searches were on for the missing.
Body of Ramchandra, a resident of Ghuni village, who along with his grandson was swept away by flash floods triggered by heavy rains, was recovered from the banks of Alaknanda near Jakhni villlage late last night, the District Disaster Management Centre said.

The number of recovered bodies swept away by flash floods in Chamoli takes the toll to four and the total fatalities from both districts located far apart from each other currently is 21.

Seven bodies were recovered earlier from the affected villages of Pithoragarh.

Eight people are still missing from Bastadi village here and three from Ghat area of Chamoli.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat visited Nachni village in Pithoragarh district. He met the affected families and expressed grief at the loss of lives besides assuring them of all help.

Rawat met 26 members of five affected families kept temporarily in the multi-purpose building in Nachni by the district administration and offered that the state government will meet the expenses if they chose to stay in rented houses elsewhere.

He asked them to stay in rented houses wherever they wanted till they are fully rehabilitated.

Accompanied by Pradesh Congress President Kishore Upadhyay, Kapkot MLA Lalit Farswan and a host of officials Rawat also gave Rs 50,000 for the treatment of a local named Daulat Singh who is ill.

Rawat asked the District Magistrate of Pithoragargh to ensure that the amount payable to the next of kin of those killed must be paid within the next 72 hours and address all problems faced by affected families on priority.

85 blocked roads have been reopened while work is underway to reopen 192 others to traffic as early as possible, an official release said.

However, Char Dham yatra is going on uninterrupted with all national highways open in the state, it said.

Water and electricity supply in affected areas of both districts has also been partially restored.