Rain fury: Death toll rises to 52 in U'khand

Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, and areas of North Bengal pounded by torrential rainfall

NEW DELHI: Six more bodies were recovered on Wednesday in rainbattered Uttarakhand, taking the death toll to 52 in the Himalayan state, while Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, and areas of North Bengal were also pounded by torrential rainfall that caused landslides and closed National Highway-10, the main road linking Gangtok with the rest of the country.

Three people were killed and hundreds marooned as heavy rains lashed Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly and Pilibhit districts over the last two days.

In Uttarakhand, 17 people were injured and 16, including 11 members of a trekking team, went missing in rain-related incidents. The Kumaon region of the state, which has been worst affected by the rainfall, also reported cases of 46 houses being damaged.

With 28 deaths, Nainital alone has accounted for the highest number of fatalities.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami extended his tour of the affected areas of Udham Singh Nagar and Champawat districts in Kumaon to take stock of the situation. He travelled by road as his helicopter could not take off from Haldwani due to technical reasons.

Accompanied by Union Minister of State for Defence and Nainital MP Ajay Bhatt and State Disaster Management Minister Dhan Singh Rawat, Dhami, on board a tractor, crossed vast stretches of marooned fields in Udham Singh Nagar district and assessed the damage to crops. He also trudged through the streets of Champawat to get a first-hand assessment of the damage inflicted by nearly three days of incessant rains.