Monsoon covers entire country; 2 dead in U’khand; IMD sounds red alert in several states

New Delhi/Shimla/Uttarkashi, June 29: A cloudburst in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district early Sunday left two construction workers dead and seven missing as monsoon covered the entire country almost a week earlier than usual, bringing rain in the national capital and other northern states, triggering landslides in several hilly areas and sending rivers into spate.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for heavy rainfall on June 29 and 30 in various districts of Uttarakhand, including Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Haridwar and Nainital. Authorities have put the Chardham yatra on hold for a day for the safety of pilgrims.
The Shimla Meteorological Centre has also issued a red alert for very heavy downpour in 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh, where rain-related incidents have claimed 20 lives since the onset of monsoon in the state on June 20.
In Uttarakhand, a landslide triggered by a cloudburst destroyed the shelters of workers engaged in the construction of a hotel along the Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi district, officials said. There were 29 labourers at the campsite when the landslide occurred washing away around 10 metres of the highway. Twenty of them were evacuated to safety while nine went missing, the district emergency operation centre said. Bodies of two missing labourers were recovered from the banks of the Yamuna River near Tiladi Shaheed Smarak, about 18 km from the place where the landslide occurred, police said. The labourers are said to be of Nepalese origin.
Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, which has been experiencing light to moderate rainfall since Sunday morning, is likely to receive heavy rainfall till the morning of July 2, the IMD official added.
At least 162 students, trapped in an inundated private residential school in the state’s East Singhbhum district after heavy rain, were rescued by the police on Sunday, a senior officer said.
The students were trapped in the school located at Pandarsoli on the Haldipokhar-Kowali Road in Kowali police station area since Saturday night after the premises got flooded due to heavy rain. (PTI)