Road blocked due to bridge collapse near Uttarakhand's Gangnani; BRO, SDRF begin restoration efforts - World News Network

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], August 8 (ANI): A bridge collapsed about 3 km ahead of Gangnani, leading to road blockage and disruption of movement in the area, police said.
According to Uttarakhand Police, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has begun construction of a new bridge to restore connectivity. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has set up an alignment using steel wire and will assist the BRO in crossing the stream (Gadre) to expedite the work.
SDRF teams have also been deployed in Dabrani, which is a few kilometres beyond Gangnani, and other nearby areas as part of the ongoing response and support efforts.
This comes days after a devastating cloudburst and heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand hit Dharali, which wreaked havoc in the area. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Thursday said that 21 more civilians stranded at Gangotri were evacuated by helicopter from Nelong to Harsil in Uttarkashi district.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday that he will provide his one month’s salary for disaster relief work following flashfloods triggered by a cloudburst in Uttarakashi, his office said in a release.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, relief and rescue operations are being conducted on a war footing by the state government in the Dharali and Harshil areas of Uttarkashi district. The CM also appealed to public representatives, officials, voluntary organisations, and common citizens to “cooperate” in the relief work, according to their capacity, the release added.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) ramped up its rescue efforts in Uttarakhand by deploying 18 teams across the state in response to adverse weather and flood-related incidents, said NDRF Deputy Inspector General Mohsen Shahedi on Thursday.
“18 teams of NDRF have been deployed in Uttarakhand. Four teams of NDRF have been deployed in Dharali; other teams are on standby…A joint operation has been launched to carry out the rescue operations…274-275 people have been rescued so far,” Shahedi said in a statement to ANI.
Amit Kumar from Border Roads Organisation (BRO), said, “Our four machines are working in this operation. The Director General of Border Roads and our chief also visited here. At least 20-40 houses are still buried and fully damaged…So far, 150-175 people have been rescued by BRO, ITBP, NDRF, and SDRF. A total of five bodies have been recovered so far.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the Uttarakhand government informed ANI that 274 individuals, stranded in Gangotri and other areas, have been safely evacuated to Harshil. The group comprises 131 people from Gujarat, 123 from Maharashtra, 21 from Madhya Pradesh, 12 from Uttar Pradesh, six from Rajasthan, seven from Delhi, five from Assam, five from Karnataka, three from Telangana, and one from Punjab. All are reported safe and are being transported to Uttarkashi or Dehradun. (ANI)

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