Fresh landslide claims three lives while clearing debris in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, Aug 24: A 32-year-old man died in Uttarakhand's Tehri Garhwal district on Monday morning, minutes after he cleared debris from a landslide site. As many as three people were working to clear debris from a landslide in Kaudiyala region in Tehri Garhwal district when a fresh landslide took place.

The landslide occurred minutes after they completed the work. All three got buried under debris along with the JCB and Pokland machines used to clear the site. The incident happened around 5:20 am on Monday.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Praveen Alok said, "All three persons were buried under the debris as big rocks fell from the mountain. We have recovered one body and work is underway to rescue others. The two others are also feared dead as body parts have been scattered."

On Sunday, a fresh landslide was reported near Kaudiyala area on Rishikesh-Srinagar stretch of National Highway 58 in Tehri Garhwal district. Meanwhile, a video of the landslide also went viral on social media.

Of the three, two were identified as Prabhat, resident of Gurdaspur, Punjab, who was the JCB operator, and Sanjeev Kumar, resident of Pathankot, Punjab who was driving the Pokland machine.

Earlier, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert from August 24 to 27, predicting heavy rainfall with intense spells at isolated places in Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Dehradun and Chamoli districts of the state.

For August 26 to 27, the MeT department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall, with intense spells, at isolated places in Dehradun, Pauri, Haridwar, Tehri, Nainital, Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts.