Once again landslides have halted Char Dham Yatra

Three more persons were killed and 'Char Dham Yatra' was halted as heavy rains lashed Uttarakhand on Wednesday paralysing normal life with most of the rivers flowing at danger level. Two children were killed when their house collapsed over them following heavy rains at Mehargaon village in Tehri district, officials said. In a similar incident at Lakshmanpur area in Vikasnagar town, a woman was buried alive under the debris of her house. So far, heavy rains have claimed more than 100 lives in the state this monsoon season. Meanwhile, the 'Char Dham Yatra' comprising pilgrimage to the four hilly shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri was halted as heavy rains triggered a series of landslides at a number of areas in Garhwal Himalayas. Work is on to clear the debris and repair the roads, the officials said.

Major highways connecting the region have been blocked due to landslides triggered by heavy rains disrupting normal life. Nahan-Shimla, Nahan-Paonta-Dehradun, Nahan-Chandigarh, Paonta-Shillai-Ronhat highways, all roads linking tehsil headquarters of Rajgarh, Renuka, were blocked due to numerous landslides bringing normal life to a still, officials said. One person was buried alive, while two others were injured when a house collapsed near Delhi Gate in Nahan. The victim was identified as Sumer Chand (70), while injured persons were Roshan Saini and Ashwani Kumar.

In another incident, two persons were critically injured when another house collapsed in Kotla Mullar village. Hundreds of vehicles carrying horticultural produce and vegetables and over two dozen buses, including state government-run buses, were stranded at various places even as Public Works Department had pressed its men and machinery into action to clear the blocked roads. Badhana, Killaur and Dhanda villages in Paonta area received heavy rains throughout the night. In Killaur, situation was more grim. The rains also disrupted power supply in Nahan and some other areas. About 300 bighas of cultivated land with paddy crop was completely submerged under water. All the major rivers, including the Yamuna, Giri, Bata and Tons were in spate, inundating several low-lying areas. Two labourers were killed and another injured in a landslide at Dharchula area of hilly Pithoragarh district. The incident occurred when the labourers, who were working on a road project, suddenly got buried in debris of the landslides which triggered following overnight heavy rains in the region.