SDM, 8 others feared dead as heavy rains lash Uttarakhand

Heavy rains also hampered relief works, also cleaning operation at Kedarnath shrine

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ajay Arora and eight others were feared killed as heavy rains lashed Uttarakhand yet again, triggering landslides and flash floods in several parts of the state.

Arora, who was posted at Kedarnath for emergency duty, was feared killed when he was swept away by Mandkini river. The incident occurred when Arora was crossing a makeshift bridge at Garudchatti near the Kedarnath shrine . Efforts are on to trace Arora in the swollen river, officials said.

The heavy rains also hampered relief works and cleaning operation at Kedarnath shrine.

Four members of a family were killed in their sleep in a slum area near Rajpur in Dehradun, following landslides. Vinod Thapa (30), wife Sarita (25), daughter Pooja (7) and son Nishant (5) died in the incident, police said.

Four others were swept away following a cloudburst at Kapkot area in Bageshwar district. A search operation has been launched in the area to look for the missing persons. Around 125 mm of rain has been recorded in Kapkot division  in the past 24 hours.

Most of the rivers are flowing just a few centimetres below the danger mark.

Nine houses were damaged in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Sulat division of Almora district on Tuesday. Landslides have brought debris onto several roads across the state, disrupting traffic along them.

Meanwhile, heavy rains again disrupted relief works in the flood-affected areas in the state with helicopters failing to take off from different areas due to inclement weather.

The heavy machinery required for clearing debris from Kedarnath could not be airlifted, due to which the cleaning operation around the battered shrine has failed to start.