Flash flood hits Deol village in Baijnath

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, May 18

Twelve houses and shops suffered extensive damage at Deol village in Baijnath last night when a flash flood, triggered by a cloudburst, wreaked havoc. The village link road was also washed away by heavy rain.

Official sources said here today that debris, stacked by a power company in a forest near the village, entered houses with flood water, damaging many houses, cow sheds, shops and village road.  Villagers said the company had not created any dumping site and therefore dumped the waste in the forest.

They said five years ago, a flash flood had damaged their houses and shops. They complained to the forest authorities regarding large-scale tree felling by the company, which had caused flood in the village, but no action was taken. They said even a show-cause notice was not issued to the company. Even after five years, no compensation was paid to them.

However, no forest officer was available for comments. A spokesman of the company said they had all environment clearance from the state Forest Department, which is why they dumped the debris in the forest.