Flood water recedes in Terai areas, fear of fresh rains looms

With the rains taking a break, water inundating the Terai areas of Kumaon region following heavy rains on Monday has started to recede.

“It is now sunny and the rains have stopped in the upper reaches of the mountains. The accumulated water has ebbed,” said Neeraj Khairwal, the district Magistrate of Udham Singh Nagar. “The situation has improved in Khatima, Nanakmatta, Jaspur and Kashipur after the skies became clear on Tuesday,” he added.

He, however, said that the administration was cautious, as the meteorological department has sounded alert citing the possibility of heavy rains in the coming days rains.

On Monday, a youth’s body was found floating in a canal in Khatima, which has not been identified till now. The Khakra nullah of Khatima was in spate flooding many parts of the city. The areas of Sitarganj, Khatima and Nanakmatta have been facing floods for the past many years. Rainwater flowing down the hilltops collects in the terai areas with force causing problems for the residents.

“Low-lying areas such as Pratappur in Khatima were the worst-hit and experienced heavy water-logging, where the police and the fire services made arrangements to help people by reaching out to them on boats,” said Sadanand Date, the SSP of US Nagar. Though the water was receding, the administration was keeping an eye on the situation, he added.

Pushkar Singh Dhami, the BJP MLA from Khatima, said that he himself had been supervising the rescue work in the city. “The water was deep in many places and the continuous rains had aggravated the situation on Monday,” he said.

The MLA said that the work of clearing drains was done, but the problem happened due to the heavy rains and overflowing forest nullahs. He said he had apprised chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat of the situation.

Ramesh Adhikari, a farmer of Pratappur village in Khatima, said that he had lost a goat to the floods and his crops and home suffered damages. “I hope that the administration takes notice of people like us and compensates us for the losses,” he said.