Uttarakhand: Heavy rain cripples key roads in Chamoli, deposits debris at houses; 2 missing
Gopeshwar (U'Khand) (PTI): Heavy rain overnight in Tharali town of Chamoli district sent a rain drain flooding and depositing debris at several houses and markets, an official said on Saturday.
Tunri Gadhera, a dry canal that channels excess rainwater, filled also the tehsil office with debris before joining the Pindar River.
Two people went missing in the nearby Sagwara and Chepdon market areas.
Kavita, a 20-year-old woman, was reported missing from Sagwara, and another person is missing in Chepdon, the official said.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his grief over the destruction.
Chamoli Additional District Magistrate Vivek Prakash said there was heavy damage to structures in Tharali and the surrounding areas.
Teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police were dispatched to the spot Friday night, but they have been held up due to a key road being blocked, the official said.
Prakash said the administration is setting up relief camps.
Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari left for the spot early morning, he said.
According to the Chamoli District Disaster Management Centre, the Karnaprayag-Gwaldam National Highway connecting Tharali has been closed due to debris near Ming Gadhera.
The Tharali-Sagwara motor road and the Dungri motor road have also been blocked.
Schools remained shut on Saturday in three development blocks at the government's order.
Dhami, in a post on social media, said, "I am closely monitoring the situation myself. I pray to God for everyone's safety."
The incident occurred weeks after a cloudburst wreaked havoc in the state's Uttarkashi district, killing one and causing at least 65 people to go missing.
Flash floods ravaged Dharali, around 264 km from Chamoli, burying half of the mountain village in a fast-flowing mudslide of slush, rubble, and water.
The village is the main stopover on the way to Gangotri, the origin of Ganga, and is home to several hotels and homestays.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
