Army camp washed away, broken windows and strewn belongings the only trace after Uttarkashi cloudburst: Video

Uttarakhand: Following the flash floods that wreaked havoc in Uttarkashi and landslide killing four, an army camp was washed away in Dharali as cloudburst hit on 5 August. The footage shows broken windows, scattered belongings as aftermath of it. 

Furniture, storage units, and personal belongings are disarrayed and covered in mud and debris. The interior looks chaotic, with items like cabinets, shelves. The video captures the severity of the impact, showcasing how the floodwaters not only swept through but also buried parts of the camp.

The relief teams arrived after water mixed with sludge had submerged homes and cars in the village on the route to Gangotri.

According to CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, helicopters were used to take the stranded out and devastation was “massive”. He said the number of unaccounted people was still being assessed.

Officials stated that nearly 400 individuals stranded in Gangotri were being evacuated by helicopter, with nine soldiers and seven non-military persons still missing. Family members of those unaccounted for assembled at the chopper station in Matli village, frantically seeking information about their relatives.

Mandeep Panwar mentioned his thought to travel to Dharali, where his brother operated a hotel and has been missing since Tuesday. “If you see the videos, ours was the first hotel to be hit by the deluge. I have not heard from my brother and he has been missing since,” Panwar stated as per Reuters‘ report.

Officials asserted that communication with rescuers and residents remained cut off, as mobile phone and power towers swept away by the floods had not yet been restored.

More than 225 army personnel deployed

Earlier, visuals showed army personnel using both their hands and machinery to remove boulders from roads that had turned into muddy, fast-flowing streams. According to Northern Command on X, over 225 army personnel were deployed for the rescue operation.

“As first responders, our infantry battalion at Harsil reacted under the commanding officer in 15 minutes of the incident. This was despite some of our personnel themselves being affected. Since then, additional columns have been deployed. Our Special Forces from Agra in AN 32 and C 295 aircraft have been flown (in) and medical personnel with all required equipment and accessories have been moved,” PTI quoted Lt Gen Navin Sachdeva, Chief of Staff, Central Command as saying.