2 dead in Chamoli cloudburst, rescue ops underway

A woman and a child died on Friday after a cloudburst occurred in Padmalla and Faldiya Gaon village of Dewal block in Chamoli district.

As many as ten houses were damaged in the incident. Some portions of agricultural land were also destroyed due to seepage of remains.

Rescue teams and district administration officials are present at the spot.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said rainfall coupled with thunderstorm is likely over the next few days in Chamoli and Tehri districts of the state.

The forecaster also predicted spells of rain in isolated pockets of Maharashtra, West Madhya Pradesh and East Rajasthan.

"Heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Konkan & Goa, Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, southwest Rajasthan and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. North Interior Karnataka, Vidarbha, East Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir," the IMD said in its bulletin.

Strong winds with speed reaching 40-50 kmph are likely to prevail over the northeast, central and southwest Arabian Sea and along and off West Coast and West Bengal-Odisha coasts and the Andaman Sea, the IMD said.

The forecaster has advised fishermen not to venture into seas these areas.