1 killed, 3 missing as rains pound Pithoragarh

One person was killed, three others went missing, and around 45 villages and the last Indian outpost on Indo-China border in Milam valley were cut off as rains continued to lash the higher reaches of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand for the fourth consecutive day today, washing away two bridges and damaging a number of rural roads.

A man was killed in the afternoon after being hit by a rock at Khela village in Dharchula area of Pithoragarh, the State Emergency Operation Centre in Dehradun said.

"Due to washing away of two bridges at Zimighat and Bogdyar on Munsiyari-Milam trek route, connectivity to the last Indian outpost on India-China border in this valley has been delinked. We have instructed the agencies concerned to reconstruct the bridges immediately," Pithoragarh District Magistrate C Ravishankar said.

About 17 rural roads have also been damaged by the current spell of rains which started on the night of July 2, cutting off about 45 villages in Darma, Vyas and Baram valleys of the district so far and affecting around 25,000 residents, he said.

However, there is no shortage of foodgrains in the villages cut off as three months advance ration was dispatched to them before the onset of monsoon, he said.

Rations are being supplied in IAF choppers to villages in the Vyas valley which could not get it as the six-km stretch between Nazang and Malpa was still under repairs after being damaged in a landslide last year, he said.

However, villagers from disaster-affected areas of Baram valley said no one from the administration has come to provide relief to them.

"We have been contacting relief workers for the last three days but no one has come to the village till date despite 10 families being affected by the rains of July 2," said Rajni Swaragi, gram pradhan of Gaina village near Baram in Bangapani subdivision of the district.

According to residents of Munsiyari which bore the brunt of the heavy showers on July 2, roads of the town are still strewn with debris.

"The debris has not yet been removed from the roads of the tourist town. It is facing shortage of LPG, vegetables and other essential items," said Puran Pandey, a resident of Munsiyari.

However, the Pithoragarh District Magistrate claimed the relief teams have reached every corner of the disaster-hit areas and relief materials distributed.

"Some affected villagers who do not want to come to relief camps are complaining of non-distribution of relief material but around 90 families staying in relief camps in Madkot area are being provided food by the administration," Ravishankar said.