Dharali village in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district was severely impacted by a cloudburst on Tuesday, causing devastating flash floods and mudslides. One of the casualties of the disaster was a 40-room
hotel owned by Jai Bhagwan, who narrowly escaped the calamity as he was visiting a nearby temple at the time.
On the day of the disaster, Bhagwan noticed that no guests had arrived at his hotel located in Dharali’s market area. He decided to go to a nearby temple to celebrate a local festival.
At around 1:40 pm, chaos erupted in Dharali as a massive mudslide struck, causing widespread panic.
According to The Indian Express, Bhagwan, who was at the temple during the incident, described the scene, stating, “First, there was a thunderous sound, followed by screams from the nearby village. People were whistling, but we didn’t understand what was happening. Then massive waves of mud, water, and rocks came crashing through.”
Realising the severity of the situation, Bhagwan rushed home only to discover that the floodwaters had reached there as well. He then hurried on foot to Harsil village for safety.
His four-storey hotel was completely washed away in the mudslide, a scene he later saw in a video. “In the video, my hotel is seen being swept away like a leaf. It was a 40-room hotel,” he said.
For the next few hours, Bhagwan constantly checked on his family, but lost contact with them after 4 pm on Tuesday.
Luckily, due to the low tourist turnout during the monsoon season, the hotels in the area, including Bhagwan’s, were largely empty. “During other months, especially during the Char Dham yatra, my hotel is fully booked. Fortunately, neither my staff nor my nephew, who manages the hotel, were present,” he mentioned.
Rescue Ops On In Dharali
Rescue operations in the flood-affected areas of Uttarkashi continued into their third day on Thursday. So far, 190 people, including 11 army personnel, have been rescued from Dharali. However, over 50 people remain missing.
A massive rescue effort is being carried out in Dharali, with multiple agencies working in coordination, including the Army, NDRF, ITBP, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Uttarakhand Police, and local administration.
