Dehradun : A 32-year-old man involved in clearing a landslide site died after he was buried under debris
on Monday morning in Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal district, officials said.
He was among the three people clearing the debris after a landslide near the Kaudiyala area on the
Rishikesh-Srinagar stretch of National Highway 58 in Tehri Garhwal. All of them were buried along with
The earthmoving machine and excavator when the fresh landslide occurred around 5:20 am.
Two of the men have been identified as Prabhat, 32, resident of Punjab’s Gurdaspur and the JCB
operator, and Sanjeev Kumar, 40, resident of Punjab’s Pathankot, who was driving the Pokland
machine.
“All three persons were buried under the debris as big rocks fell from the mountain. We have recovered
one body and work is underway to rescue others. The two others are also feared dead as body parts
have been scattered,” Praveen Alok from State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), which is conducting
the search and rescue operation, said.
A video of the landslide went viral on social media.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert from August 24 to 27, predicting
heavy rainfall with intense spells at isolated places in Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Dehradun and Chamoli
districts of the state. Lightning is also likely to occur at isolated places in the state on these days.
On Sunday, a landslide had occurred on the Rishikesh-Badrinath Highway (National Highway 58) near
Bayasi in the hill state’s Tehri Garhwal district.
The road from Dehradun to Badrinath, Kedarnath and Yamunotri are blocked at several points with
rocks and boulders tumbling down the hill slope following heavy rain.
The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway was blocked in Totaghati in Chamoli, the road to Kedarnath at
Jaleshwar Mahadev and the one to Yamunotri at Silai bend in Uttarkashi.
Officials have said more than 100 roads, including four national highways, are still blocked owing to
heavy rain in several parts of the state. A stretch of the Badrinath highway has been blocked for the past
20 days, they said.
Over 200 machines have been deployed by the public works department to clear the roads to facilitate
smooth traffic movement, according to a report by the department.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in the state
between August 25 and August 28.
For August 26 to 27, the met department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall, with intense spells,
at isolated places in Dehradun, Pauri, Haridwar, Tehri, Nainital, Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar
districts
