Nine labourers missing after cloudburst in Uttarkashi

Rescue operations underway near Silai Bend on Yamunotri highway; labourers of Nepali origin missing after tents washed away by flash floods.

Uttarkashi: Around nine road construction labourers are feared to have been swept away following a cloudburst along the Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi district early Sunday, police said.

The labourers went missing following heavy rainfall and cloudburst near Silai Bend in Barkot area on way to the Yamunotri temple in Uttarkashi district, the Disaster Control Room here said.

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Barkot police station SHO Deepak Kathait said information about a cloudburst on the Yamunotri highway was received around midnight. A team rushed to the spot and found that labourers engaged in road construction work lived there by putting up tents. They are feared to have been swept away by heavy rain. So far eight to nine people are reported missing. All of them are of Nepali origin, he said, adding a search is underway.

The highway is closed at many places, including Silai bend, since the cloudburst. There is also information of heavy rain damaging agricultural land in Kuthnaur village in the district. The road near Ojri has also been completely damaged. The agricultural fields are filled with debris. The Kupda Kunshala Trikhili motor bridge in Syanachatti is also in danger and the water level of the Yamuna has also risen following heavy rain.