Uttarakhand: Families Evacuated, Vehicles Under Debris After Landslide At Varunavat Hill

Heavy rains triggered a massive landslide at Uttarkashi's Varunavat Hill on Wednesday. As per reports, several vehicles standing along the Gangotri National Highway and the ones parked in the Gofiara Colony were buried due to the landslide which prompted a quick evacuation of over a dozen families to safer places. However, there was news of any loss of life in the incident

According to PTI, the landslide occurred at 1.45 am after heavy rain lashed Uttarkashi and surrounding areas on Tuesday night leading to widespread panic as a large amount of debris containing huge boulders fell from the Varunavat Hill, officials said.

As soon as the information about the landslide was received, teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the district administration reached the spot.

What did the local authorities say?

According to Utarkashi District Magistrate Meherban Singh Bisht, over a dozen families were affected by the landslide and were shifted to safer places.

Taking stock of the situation, the DM held a meeting with senior officials and discussed the strategy to deal with any emergency.

Wednesday's landslide revived memories of a series of landslides on the Varunavat Hill in 2003 which continued for a long time. The then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given a package of more than Rs 250 crore for the treatment and stabilisation work for the hill.