Uttarakhand / Death toll in Uttarakhand rises to 47 amid heavy rain, Shah to visit state today

New Delhi: Incessant rainfall, major landslides, houses being washed away, these scenes at Uttarakhand have created havoc for the locals. The state has reported at least 42 rain-related deaths on Tuesday with many people still trapped under the rubble after landslides.

"The number of casualties in Kumaon region alone has crossed 40," DIG Nilesh Anand Bharne told PTI.

With 42 new fatalities in the Kumaon region, the death toll in the disaster has risen to 47 as five deaths were reported on Monday.

Of the 42 fresh deaths, 28 people were killed in Nainital district, six each in Almora and Champawat and one each in Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar districts, according to the PTI report.

The connectivity to Nainital was restored in the evening after hours of struggle amid inclement weather, officials said.

In view of the incessant rains and cloudbursts in the state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Uttarakhand today evening. He will hold review meetings and take stock of the situation. He will conduct an aerial survey in Uttarakhand tomorrow.

Amid the rain fury, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reiterated his appeal to Chardham yatris to stay where they are and not to resume their journeys before the weather improved.

Dhami undertook an aerial survey of the rain-hit areas and later interacted with the affected people on ground zero to make an assessment of the damages caused.

He announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in rain-related incidents across the state over the last two days.

Director General of Uttarakhand Police Ashok Kumar, who accompanied Chief Minister Dhami on a visit to the rain-hit areas of the Kumaon region, said roads, bridges and railway tracks have been damaged in Kathgodam and Lalkuan in Nainital and Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar.

It will take at least four-five days to repair the damaged tracks, Kumar told PTI.

Three Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters arrived in the state on Tuesday and are assisting in relief and rescue operations. Two of them have been deployed in the Nainital district, which has suffered extensive damage due to cloudbursts and landslides.

According to a rough estimate, around 100 pilgrims from different parts of Gujarat who had gone to Uttarakhand for the Chardham Yatra were stranded following heavy rains and landslides, Gujarat Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi said.

The National Disaster Response Force has rescued over 300 people from flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand, the federal force said on Tuesday.

The NDRF has deployed 15 teams in the state.