Two killed in cloudburst, two washed away as heavy rain lashes Uttarakhand

A woman and her son were killed in a cloudburst in Tehri district, while two others were swept away after a flooded rivulet inundated their house in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district in the early hours of Friday, officials said.

Heavy rains have wreaked havoc in the hills of Uttarakhand, washing away houses, cowsheds and bridgesbesides destroying crops.

A cloudburst flattened a house in Tharti village of Tehri district at 3 am, killing a 30-year-old woman and her six-year-old son, sub-divisional magistrate Shiv Charan Dwivedi said.

The woman's 12-year-old daughter was rescued from the rubble and rushed to a hospital in nearby Pilkhi for treatment, he said.Bodies of the mother and her son have been recovered, he said.

The cloudburst caused heavy damage in Bhilangana block of the district breaching Moolgarh-Tharti motor road as a 20-metre portion broke off and went down into the floodedNailchami stream, he said.

Rescue operation by SDRF personnel is still underway in the area, he said, adding there were reports oftwo mules being washed away in Thati-Dagar village where a cowshed was damaged and three bridges washed out in the cloudburst.

A woman and her seven-year-old daughter were swept away in Chamoli district early on Friday after a flooded rivulet inundated their home following heavy rain which also destroyed crops besides damaging 12 houses and cowsheds.

The incident occurred in Faldia village of the district early on Friday. The district administration rushedrescue teams to the spot immediately but the mother-daughter duo is yet to be found, District Disaster Management officer NK Joshi said.

Muddy waters of the flooded Ulangara rivulet swamped around a dozen houses and cowsheds in Faldia village burying alive livestock, he said.

Heavy showers also caused large-scale damage to crops in Faldia, Vaganmaira, Padmalla and Nailpatta villages, the official said.

Heavy rains also blocked Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway at Lambagad and several other places causinginconvenience to pilgrims going to the Himalayan temple as well as those returning from there.