Army help recover gold, goods from landslide hit Dharchula town

Army help recover gold, goods from landslide hit Dharchula town

B.D.Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, Aug 2

Indian Army personnel belonging to Kumaon Scouts, after relentless search amidst huge debris and boulders recovered gold ornaments worth Rs. seven lakhs and other goods of families that had lost it during massive landslides in Dharchula town of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand on July 28,this year.

A massive landslide in  Malli Bazar area, near Aildhar, of Dharchula town has resulted in heavy damage to six residential buildings and nine shops in the area.

Nandan Kumar, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Dharchula said that personnels of Kumoan Scouts led by its’ Commanding Officer Col. Ajay Pal Singh carried out relentless serach and were able to recover gold jewellery worth rs. Seven lakhs belonging to Verma family which had lost its’ home in which four brothers with their families were staying.

Earlier, on July 28, 2022, army jawans and officers had rescued the affected families from the damaged buildings. Besides, the gold jewellery, army jawans also retrieved goods worth Rs. Six lakhs belonging to Sushil Aggarwal, a wholesale trader whose shop was also completed damaged.

“The army team of Kumaon Scouts, under it’s Commanding Officer  Ajay Pal Singh, worked day night to clear the debris from the spot and finally recovered the assets of the affected people last night, ” said the SDM.

Six residential houses and nine hops of  the market were damaged by the heavy boulders and debris from a nearby hill in the landslides triggered by incessant rains. A total of 100 affected families had to be shifted from the landslide hit area.” We hope some more goods could he recovered from the debris when recovery work resumes tomorrow,” SDM hoped.