Met Department director attributes Uttarakhand damages to wrong construction

The Director of the state meteorological department, Anand Sharma today said that the major damages happening in Uttarakhand are due to more people constructing and living in vulnerable areas.

"The major damages are because more and more people are constructing and living in vulnerable areas. The people who have built their houses in the flood plain or near the flood plain or in the hills which are prone to landslides, they got affected," he told ANI.

"It is wrong construction, wrong place of selection of the house, these are the issues which we need to address," he added.

The Met Department director also warned people against living in floodplains.

"The people should not construct and live in floodplains. The floodplain is for the river and not for people to live there," he said.

Sharma also informed that the Met Department has not issued any warning after August 16.

"We have not issued any warning after 16th. As per the warning about the weather, the weather has improved. We are expecting light to moderate rain at many places in the state but there is no weather warning for Uttarakhand as such," Sharma said.

"We had issued warnings on 14th and 15th, and as per our warnings, we had indicated the districts of Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri and Nainital mainly and the main effect came in these places only," he explained.

Incessant rains in Uttarakhand have disrupted normal life. In Pauri Garhwal district, 17 people were buried alive as dangerous landslides hit the hilly region.

Three houses were also destroyed when rubble came down from a hill in Dehradun around 2.30 a.m.

Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order), Ram Singh Meena, said that rescue teams were rushed to the spot and seven bodies were pulled out.