Dehradun Cloudburst Highlights: 13 dead, 16 missing; overnight rain wreaks havoc in city

Cloudbursts and heavy rains overnight left a trail of destruction in Uttarakhand's capital Dehradun and its neighbouring areas on Tuesday, sweeping away at least five people and leaving more than 500 stranded in different locations.

Sahastradhara, Maldevta, Santla Devi and Dalanwala were the worst-hit by the disaster, according to the district disaster management office here. Sahastradhara received 192 mm of rain, followed by Maldevta (141.5 mm), Hathi Barkala and Jolly Grant (92.5mm each) and Kalsi (83.5 mm).

Several roads, houses and shops were damaged while a bridge was washed away. Five people were swept away by the torrential waters in different parts of the city, and 584 have been left stranded, it said.

Most rivers were in spate following the showers. The Tamsa river, on the banks of which the famous Tapkeshwar temple is located, is flowing very close to the danger mark. The Ganga and the Yamuna are flowing close to the warning level.

The Tamsa swelled rapidly in the morning, inundating the temple and submerging the gigantic Hanuman statue near its entrance up to the shoulders. The temple's priest, Bipin Joshi, said that he has not seen the river waters rise so high in the past 25 to 30 years.

Luckily, there were few devotees within the temple premises in the early morning hours when the inundation occurred, he said, adding that the priests staying at the temple are safe.

Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations in the affected areas, while 300 to 400 people have already been moved to safety.

About 200 children trapped by waterlogging at the Devbhoomi Institute campus in Paundha area of Dehradun were rescued by an SDRF team, said Banshidhar Tiwari, Director General, Information.

Waterlogging in Tehri left people stranded at Geeta Bhawan, he said, adding that they were later rescued. Also, a road in Nainital has been blocked by debris brought by a landslide triggered by heavy rain, he said.

Residents of Majhara village were on the road, having survived what they called a landslide that hit their dwellings early in the morning. They claimed that some people have gone missing.