About 150 students were trapped inside Kasturba Inter College under falling debris swept into the building by heavy rains in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel have rescued all the stranded students, official informed on Saturday, July 22.
Heavy rains caused water-logging in the residential school leading to an evacuation. However, the debris prevented students from leaving. The Uttarkashi Disaster Management unit informed the SDRF about the situation in the middle of Thursday (July 20) night, as per a report by ANI.
"Acting on the information, as per the instructions of Manikant Mishra, Commandant SDRF, the SDRF rescue team immediately reached the spot with rescue equipment," an official statement read. The rescue operation was completed on the same night and students were taken to a safe place.
People from commercial hotels, shops and nearby houses in the area were also taken to a safe place, urging them to leave the place immediately. Meanwhile, scores of commuters, including tourists and locals, are stranded in Uttarkashi after the Yamunotri National Highway was blocked at many places today due to falling debris. There was no loss of life, officials said.
Similarly, the Badrinath National Highway near the Chamoli district was also blocked in three places due to falling debris triggered by incessant rainfall. "The roadway is blocked due to debris at Nandprayag, Belakuchi, and Pagalnala on the Badrinath National Highway," Chamoli police said in a tweet on Saturday morning.
A cloudburst on Friday (July 21) night in Uttarkashi made the situation worse, causing damage to roads and houses. The Uttarkashi district magistrate has also ordered for closure of schools for Saturday following the heavy rains in the region, as per ANI.
