Flood Washes Away Uttarakhand Bridge, Contact Lost With Border Villages

NDTV News:

Gopeshwar, Uttarakhand: Floods in Jummagad river in the border area of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand has washed away the bridge built on it, blocking the Indo-Tibet border road there while contact with over a dozen border villages has also been lost.

Flooding in Jummagad river flowing near Jumma village on the Joshimath-Niti highway, about 45 km from Joshimath, continued till late night on Monday evening, during which the bridge collapsed.

The Chamoli district administration on Tuesday said motor connectivity to Kaga, Garpak, Dronagiri, Jellum, Kosa, Malari, Mahargaon, Kailashpur, Prakiya, Bampa, Gamshali and Neeti villages – all of which lie beyond Jumma village – were cut off after the bridge was washed away in the flood. Supply to border outposts by road has also come to a standstill.

The flood water remained above the Joshimath-Malari road, which earlier stood several metres above the river, for a long time. Eyewitnesses say that mud and heavy stones were also flowing in the flooded river.

There has been no official comment on the reason for the abrupt flooding in the river but it is being speculated that landslides in the upper reaches could have stopped the flow of the river, and flooding could have been caused when the water flow found a release later.