At least five people have died and 50 are feared missing in Dharali village of Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, which was hit by flash floods on Tuesday due to cloudbursts. 

Newslaundry reached Dharali within 24 hours of the incident and found that the area remains inaccessible by road, with key infrastructure – roads and bridges – swept away. Relief efforts gained pace once the weather cleared after heavy rainfall on Wednesday morning. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) began clearing the route while helicopters continued search and rescue missions.

Rajkishore, Superintending Engineer at BRO, told Newslaundry they are trying to reopen the main road and rebuild the damaged bridges.

Meanwhile, locals are left to grapple with the flood’s aftermath.

Shakuntala Devi, 32, a resident of Bhatwadi, showed the cracks in her home and said, “We built this house with great difficulty. Where will we go now? Unless the government compensates us, we’ll have no choice but to die here.”

The tragedy has sparked serious ecological concerns. Dharali and its surrounding areas, including Gangotri, fall within an officially designated eco-sensitive zone. Yet, over the years, multi-storey hotels and residential buildings have sprung up right along the riverbank. Locals and experts are questioning how such unchecked construction was allowed.

There are also glaring lapses in early warning systems. No alerts were issued for Uttarkashi district on Tuesday, the day disaster struck – raising questions about the meteorological department and disaster management authorities.

Newslaundry also spoke to locals about the recent construction boom in the area. Santosh Rawat, 25, who runs a small dhaba, said, “In the last 20 years, the number of hotels has increased drastically. Multi-storey buildings have come up everywhere.”

While extreme weather events like cloudbursts are becoming more frequent due to climate change, experts caution that governments cannot use this as a blanket excuse for administrative failures.

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