Two students washed away as rains pound Dehradun

DEHRADUN: One student died while the other was still missing in the Prem Nagar area of Dehradun after they were washed away in a local rivulet on Sunday following heavy downpour throughout the day.
According to the information provided by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the students are believed to be from UPES and the incident took place around 5.40pm.“We suspect that the students are from UPES . The SDRF teams from Sahastradhara have been rushed to the spot and while the body of one student was taken out of the river, the search for the missing is still on,” a SDRF official said.
The heavy rains also caused snarls and minor accidents across the city. While jams were witnessed around ISBT and Haridwar Road, a car with six people in it fell in a drain near Rispana Bridge. All the six passengers, however, were unhurt.
The regional meteorological centre also issued an orange alert for seven districts of the state. While the state will witness mild rains on Monday, from Tuesday till Wednesday, districts such as Bageshwar, Chamoli, Dehradun, Rudraprayag, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh and Nainital will witness heavy to very heavy rainfall.
“The orange alert means that we have to be prepared and the proper arrangements have been put in place to manage any situation. We have our teams on standby and we will be able to tackle any difficult situation here,” a SDRF official said.
Meanwhile, the Kedarnath highway remained blocked even on Sunday due to landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in Rudraprayag district. Though the administration has been working to clear the stretch and around 50 other rural motorable roads, they have had little success so far.