Uttarakhand: Five swept away after heavy rains in Dehradun and surrounding areas

Overnight cloudbursts and heavy rain have wreaked havoc in Dehradun and surrounding areas in Uttarakhand sweeping away at least five people and leaving over 500 stranded officials said on Tuesday reported the PTISahastradhara Maldevta Santla Devi and Dalanwala were the worsthit by the disaster according to the district disaster management officeSahastradhara received 192 mm of rain followed by Maldevta 1415 mm Hathi Barkala and Jolly Grant 925mm each and Kalsi 835 mmSeveral roads houses and shops were damaged while a bridge was washed away Five people were swept away by the torrential waters in different parts of the city and 584 have been left stranded it said Most rivers were in spate following the showersThe Tamsa river on the banks of which the famous Tapkeshwar temple is located is flowing very close to the danger markThe Ganga and the Yamuna are flowing close to the warning level The Tamsa swelled rapidly in the morning inundating the temple and submerging the gigantic Hanuman statue near its entrance up to the shoulders The temples priest Bipin Joshi said that he has not seen the river waters rise so high in the past 25 to 30 years Luckily there were few devotees within the temple premises in the early morning hours when the inundation occurred he said adding that the priests staying at the temple are safe PTI reportedDisaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations in the affected areas while 300 to 400 people have already been moved to safety About 200 children trapped by waterlogging at the Devbhoomi Institute campus in Paundha area of Dehradun were rescued by an SDRF team said Banshidhar Tiwari Director General Information according to the PTIWaterlogging in Tehri left people stranded at Geeta Bhawan he said adding that they were later rescued Also a road in Nainital has been blocked by debris brought by a landslide triggered by heavy rain he said Residents of Majhara village were on the road having survived what they called a landslide that hit their dwellings early in the morning They claimed that some people have gone missingMeanwhile Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the rainaffected areas of Dehradun district to review the situation on the ground Local MLAs and senior officials accompanied himInteracting with reporters in the rainhit Maldevta area he said All rivers are in spate following heavy rains Roads have been breached at 25 to 30 places Approach roads are cut off Houses and government properties have been damaged Normal life is severely affected Rescue teams are working on a war footing to restore normalcy The state government stands with every affected family The administration is already on alert mode and the NDRF SDRF police and local administration are active he saidThe chief ministers office in a social media post in Hindi said Dhami has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the situation in Uttarakhand following heavy showers They assured the state of all possible help and asserted that the Union government stands firmly with the people of Uttarakhand in this hour of crisis according to the CMO Heavy rains caused the Song River to swell flooding nearby areasSpeaking to PTI Videos earlier in the day SubDivisional Magistrate of Sadar Hari Giri said The water level is rising and the flow is very strong right now No deaths have been reported so far Tourists were staying in the hotelswith PTI inputs