Uttarakhand Rains: 16 Dead Amid Landslides, Cloudburst; IAF Deploys Mi-17 To Airlift Stranded Pilgrims In Kedarnath

Flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, resulting in the deaths of 16 people and serious injuries to six others.

The Kedarnath valley in Rudraprayag was completely cut off after a landslide near Bhimbhali on the trek route, leaving nearly 450 people stranded.

The Kedarnath highway was also washed away between Sonprayag and Gaurikund.

In response, the Char Dham yatra to the Kedarnath shrine was halted by the state administration.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s office read, “Due to landslides at many places on the Kedarnath trekking route, the yatra has been stopped for the time being in view of the pilgrims’ safety.”

With the entire Kedarnath valley being cut off, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) created an alternative 1-km route through steep mountains to rescue those stranded beyond Bhimbali.

SDRF commandant Manikant Mishra stated, “About 425 people stranded in Bhimbali, Rambara, and Lincholi along the Kedarnath yatra route were airlifted. Almost 1,100 stranded between Sonprayag and Bhimbali were shifted to a safer place via an alternative route," Times of India reported.

Two SDRF teams — from Augustmuni and Ratura — were dispatched to the affected areas.

After an extensive search and rescue operation, the SDRF team recovered the body of a man from Lincholi on the Kedarnath trek route on Thursday evening, following a landslide that struck the area on Wednesday night.

A 29-year-old man was rescued alive after being buried under large boulders for over 15 hours, according to SDRF officials.

In other rain-related incidents, four people were killed after a house collapsed in Dera Basti in Roorkee tehsil of Haridwar district, with six others sustaining serious injuries.

In a separate incident in Roorkee, two people, including a woman, were electrocuted and died on the spot.

A cloudburst in Ghansali tehsil of Tehri Garhwal district resulted in the deaths of three family members when a hotel they were in was washed away by a flash flood in Jhakniyali. The victims were identified as hotel owner Bhanu Prashad, 50, his wife Neelam Devi, 45, and their son Vipin, 28.

In Chamoli, a 26-year-old woman named Deepa Devi was killed when her house was struck by a landslide in Bailchori, Gairsain tehsil. Her body was found in the debris.

Meanwhile, rescue operations are ongoing in affected areas in Uttarakhand, with the Indian Air Force deploying Mi17V5 and Chinook helicopters to assist the efforts including airlifting stranded pilgrims in Kedarnath.

According to the CM Office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closely monitoring the situation, and relief efforts are being coordinated by various agencies including the SDRF, police, and local officials.

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