Wednesday, 19 JULY 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Eight buildings collapsed in the Shanti Vihar and Sapera Basti areas of Dehradun in the early hours of Tuesday due to flash floods triggered by heavy rains. No loss of life was reported as the police had evacuated the occupants from most of the houses before the collapse. The station house officer of Raipur police station Kundan Ram said that the police received a complaint late on Monday night that some houses collapsed in the Shanti Vihar area after the nearby drain started overflowing due to heavy rainfall. The police team along with the rescue team and quick response team of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) reached the spot and found that two houses and two shops collapsed. The police teams noticed the rising water level of drains in the area which could potentially affect houses constructed nearby as well as in Sapera Basti considering that all occupants were evacuated from there. Some people were sleeping and were brought out of their homes and shops by the police. All such people were taken to safe places and within a few hours, two houses and two shops collapsed amid heavy rain after the water level rose in the drain, said the SHO. He said that the timely action by the police averted a serious incident that could have been fatal for people living there. He said that the police along with the teams of departments concerned carried out rescue operations in the affected areas till Tuesday morning and removed debris of collapsed establishments that could cause severe waterlogging. Besides this, a police team also shifted several families residing in the Sumannagar area of Nehru Colony to safe places after water entered their houses late on Monday night. The MCD also received 15 complaints in its disaster control centre since Monday evening most of which were regarding waterlogged routes and water entering the houses, as per municipal officials. Talking about the steps taken by the district administration regarding such cases, the district magistrate Sonika said that all old drains have been cleaned by respective bodies and it is being ensured that rainwater does not accumulate on roads. “In some colonies, the drains are either encroached or there are no drains at all to channelise water. We are working to improve conditions in such areas too. We have also made sufficient arrangements to shift people from vulnerable areas to safe places but most of them prefer to stay with their relatives. We are also identifying affected families eligible to get compensation as per the rules,” added the DM.
