Pithoragarh: Five persons, including three children, were killed and two others went missing when three houses collapsed during heavy rains in a village in the Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.
Pithoragarh District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan, who is supervising the rescue and relief operations at the spot, said that the incident took place in Jumma village late on Sunday night. Sashastra Seema Bal Commandant MP Singh said the bodies of five persons, including three children, have been recovered from the affected site while a search is on for two others missing.
Singh said that a helipad and a control room have been set up to conduct relief and rescue operations due to damaged roads in the affected area and a medical team has been sent to treat the injured.
Chouhan said that the search operation would continue till the missing people were found. He said that the affected people have been shifted to safer places. He said that the death toll could be higher as the affected village is situated on top of a hill in a remote area.
“We have conducted an aerial survey of the village by helicopter and SDRF and NDRF teams along with police and revenue teams have also been sent to the village so that relief and rescue operations can be carried out there on a war footing,” he said. The District Magistrate also held a meeting with the officials at the District Emergency Center and discussed the delivery of relief materials to the villagers.
On the other hand, in Dehradun, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took information from Kumaon Commissioner Sushil Kumar and District Magistrate Chauhan, who was present on the spot, about the damage caused by heavy rains in Jumma village.
Government sources said that he directed the officials to immediately take the people from the affected area to safe places, make adequate arrangements for their stay, food as well as medicines, and milk for the children. The Chief Minister said that it should be ensured that no one gets trapped in the affected area.
The Chief Minister directed the Commissioner to work on a war footing to restore the traffic system in the affected area at the earliest. Dhami said he would visit the affected area as soon as the weather cleared.
