People of Mukhba, famous as the maternal home of Mother Ganga, located in front of Dharali, also started screaming on seeing this heart-rending scene and started praying to God for protection.
New Delhi: “Everything is over”, a victim is heard saying in one of several disturbing videos which surfaced online after a cloudburst led to flash floods on Tuesday in Himalayan village of Dharali in this district leaving behind a trail of destruction.
In one horrific video, some people were seen running away from the floodwaters. Alas, the water consumed them.
In another, a man was seen trying to walk through the slushy waters but being unsuccessful, PTI reported. Hearteningly, another video showed a man crawling out of a heap of debris. His health status could not be verified.
The massive devastation brought back horrific memories of the 2013 deluge in Kedarnath and the Rishiganga disaster of 2021.
Like the floods in Kedarnath which silenced a place bustling with pilgrims, and Rishiganga, where a normal day at work turned into a fatal disaster for hundreds of workers of a hydel project, the raging waters of Kheer Ganga river following the cloudburst swept away big hotels and houses in Dharali on Tuesday, burying the lively place en route to Gangotri under a mound of debris.
Videos on social media showed five to ten-metre high waves carrying tonnes of rubble and hitting a row of houses, hotels and other buildings which collapsed on people scampering to safety.
Many houses and hotels were swamped by debris, while only the red and green tin roofs of some tall hotels were visible.
In a video, a car was seen speeding and finally disappearing into the waves that overtook it.
People of Mukhba, famous as the maternal home of Mother Ganga, located in front of Dharali, also started screaming on seeing this heart-rending scene and started praying to God for protection.
Sixty-year-old Subhash Chandra Semwal, a resident of Mukhba village and an eyewitness, said that he had never seen such a horrific scene in his life.
He said that in the afternoon, he heard the sound of water and stones flowing at a high speed, following which he and other members of his family came out.
“When we saw a huge amount of water flowing down in Kheer Ganga, we all panicked. Then we blew whistles to alert the people living in Dharali market and shouted at them to run away from there,” he said.
With teary eyes, Semwal said that after hearing their voices, many people ran out of the hotel but the rushing flood waters overtook them and they were swept away.
In another video of the incident, panic-stricken people are heard gasping for breath and trying desperately to call their relatives in affected areas to find out if they are alright. A voice is also heard in the video, “Everything is over”.
In a video uploaded by the Army on social media, debris is seen everywhere which is still slowly flowing. An Army officer said that people have been asked to stay away from the disaster-hit Dharali for the time being.
