Uttarakhand continued to have the wrath of the natural world when, suddenly, a cloudburst hit some parts of the hill state and caused the villages to be submerged, homes to be damaged, and the roads to be blocked by landslides and debris. The accident that happened late on Thursday night has brought normal life to its knees, and rescue and relief operations are being conducted on a war footing.
As per the first-hand reports, torrential downpour caused flash floods in rivers and streams and swept low-lying areas, carrying with it vehicles, cattle and farm land. A number of houses in the affected villages were damaged, partially or completely washed away. The levels of panic were high as the water rose very fast, and many families were forced to leave their houses in the middle of the night.
Accessibility has been crippled, and several stretches of highways and rural roads are blocked by mudslides and boulders. Remote villages also have been shortchanged as national Highways to remote towns have been cut off. The government has sent teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police and local government to eliminate the rubble and normalize access. The process has been slowed down, however, by constant rain and unstable ground.
Accounts of scenes of mayhem were given, of streams of water pouring into whole settlements, of people rushing to seek safety. In other places, schools and community halls have been turned into provisional shelters for displaced families. Power lines and phone lines are also affected, and this hinders the coordination of rescue efforts.
State authorities have declared that aid such as supplies of food, water, and medical equipment is being dispatched to the disaster area. Helicopters can be enlisted if the weather is fine. The administration has also put up warnings about the neighbouring districts, asking people to avoid visiting swollen rivers and avoid unnecessary travelling in hilly areas.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was worried about the situation and asked the officials to put saving lives and urgent help to affected people on the priority lists. He also urged people not to forget to be alert in the current monsoon season because the state is very vulnerable to such disasters.
The cloudburst is an ugly recollection of the susceptibility of Uttarakhand to extreme weather conditions. As villages were flooded, roads blocked, and hundreds displaced, the tragedy highlights the necessity of more powerful preparedness to disasters, and robust infrastructure in the already vulnerable Himalayan area.
