PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun Thirteen people have lost their lives in Dehradun on Tuesday due to the heavy rainfall and resulting floods, while three others were injured and 16 remain missing. Government and private properties have suffered extensive damage, including two houses and 31 boundary walls. Several residential buildings, 13 shops, eight hotels, three restaurants, an anganwadi centre, a Panchayat building and a community hall in affected areas have sustained heavy damage. Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Public Works Department (PWD) carried out operations across different parts of the district and managed to rescue hundreds of stranded people. According to the officials, Sahastradhara, Maldevta, Santla Devi and Dalanwala reported the worst damage. A flash flood triggered by heavy rainfall occurred in Karligaad, Sahastradhara late on Monday. While some shops were washed away, one person was reported dead, two people remain missing and one was reported trapped under the debris. The officials informed that in Premnagar, 12-15 labourers working in the Tons river for mining were swept away after water flow suddenly intensified on Tuesday morning. A video from the site showed workers trapped on a tractor trolley in the middle of the river, calling for help before being carried away by the current. An SDRF official told The Pioneer that they recovered five bodies and the local police later recovered three. The deceased included four men and four women, while the SDRF team continued search operations for others, he added. In another incident, a wall collapsed near Green Valley PG close to DIT College, sweeping away a 20-year-old man identified as Kaif, a resident of Hapur Cantonment in Uttar Pradesh. The SDRF recovered his body and handed it over to the police. Flooding also trapped more than 200 students inside Dev Bhoomi Institute premises near Paundha in Premnagar. SDRF teams reached the spot and evacuated all students safely. A man’s body was also found stuck in the Rispana River in the Mohini Road area. Besides this, about 30 people were trapped in Raipur’s Panchkuli, while more than 500 were evacuated to safer areas at Shri Dev Bhoomi Institute in Premnagar. In Mussoorie, authorities advised against travel and asked hotels and homestays not to accept bookings. The hotel association announced free stay for stranded tourists, while the administration arranged accommodation in dharamshalas and gurudwaras. Municipal buses were moving tourists from unsafe hotels to safer locations, as per the officials. In Rishikesh, waterlogging was reported at Haridwar Bypass Road near Mansa Devi, submerging railway tracks. Heavy rain washed away a section of the Rishikesh–Chamba highway near Bhinu, disrupting access to Gangotri through the route. A two-room hotel built along the river near Nagni collapsed, while houses in Shivajinagar were flooded as the river overflowed. The Dehradun district magistrate Savin Bansal and senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh also visited affected places including Sahastradhara, Maldevta and others. The DM said that all departments concerned will continue to monitor the situation and conduct search and rescue operations across the affected areas. Several roads and bridges have also sustained damage in Dehradun district.
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