Landslides, flash floods damage roads in Uttarakhand

Widespread landslides and flash floods triggered by last week's torrential rains in Uttarakhand have cut off large parts of the Himalayan state and left hundreds of tourists and pilgrims stranded, including on the Mansarovar route. The landslides and flash floods have claimed at least 68 lives since Sunday. As many as 170 major and minor roads have been severely damaged, leading to complete disruption of traffic in the mountainous districts of Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar, Nainital, Almora, Tehri Garhwal and Pithoragarh districts. Even the main road connecting the plains to the popular hill station Nainital is closed to traffic, while the Delhi-Dehradun and Mussoorie route is also badly damaged. Hundreds of tourists and pilgrims are stranded in different places including the Mansarovar route. "Several Mansarovar tourists were halted in Pithoragarh and advised not to proceed further. A bus carrying foreign pilgrims on the 'char dham' yatra (four pilgrimages) was stranded in Uttarkashi for the past three days," an official said.

However, there was some respite for a large number of villages downstream of Tehri dam on account of absence of any heavy downpour upstream since Monday. Earlier, the rising waters of the gigantic reservoir of Tehri dam had already submerged or inundated a large number of low-lying villages in Uttar Kashi district. According to an official spokesman, "despite no rain for the past four days, the level of the Tehri dam had not gone below the danger mark of 830 metres." While both power and drinking water supply was adversely affected in large parts of the hilly districts, extensive damage to crop was reported in the rich vast plains across Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar districts.

The state which draws lakhs of tourists every year from different corners of the country and abroad to the popular pilgrimage centres - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - was now being avoided by them. "Not a single tourist has been able to come to any of these places over the past one week since rains have caused deep cracks and washed away parts of key roads in the region," a senior official of the state tourism department told.

According to a spokesman of the state disaster management department, "only three major roads functional at the moment are Dehradun-New Tehri, Pratap Nagar-Peepal Pani and Rishikesh-New Tehri." The scene in the interior and far-flung areas was much worse as disruption of movement on the roads had seriously affected the supply of essential commodities, including fuel, vegetables, and even bread. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has urged the central government to provide a special assistance package of Rs.21,000 crore to enable the flood-ravaged state to spring back to its feet. As many as 172 people have been reported dead and 68 missing since the outbreak of the current monsoon in June.

Uttarakhand: Haridwar Floods update on September 24, 2010

Uttarakhand bore the brunt of nature's wrath in the form on flood but it failed to dampen masses’ spirit, says P.S. Chauhan:

Indeed, when nature turns violent then human have to where to run and hide. And the same was experienced by the people of Uttarakhand, when its major rivers turned violent and inundated one and all. The torrential and incessant rains, which lashed the state, breaking all the records in living memory. The state has so far recorded the cumulative rainfall of 1675 mm. as against the average annual rainfall of 1163. Floods, cloudbursts and landslides, left behind a trail of wide spread devastation of human life, property and ecology. As nature battered the state, all the disaster management measures crumbled down and due to heavy downpour state's river Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Yamuna, Kosi, Sharda, Gola etc., all swelled up and even the small brooks and rivulets, including Ratmau, Solani, Pathri, Kansrau, all overflowed, sweeping away whatever came in their way. Humans, cattle, roads, bridges, water supply lines, trees and everything was swept away by the swollen currents. Large parts of cities, towns, villages and forests were turned into vast pools of water. The Ganga flowed above the danger mark at Haridwar and Rishikesh and was three meters above the danger mark at Bhimgoda Barrage. Such was the force of water that the gate no. 6 of the barrage, made of highly solid iron structure, gave in, resulting in floods like situation in the holy city and Laksar tehsil of the district. The entire Har-ki-Pauri region was submerged in 3-4 feet of water. Water level in the gigantic Tehri dam reached 831.5 meter mark, which is 1.5 meter above its capacity. The authorities released 1000 cusecs water from the dam to maintain its level and as reports poured in that still more water may be discharged from the dam.

As nature continued to wreak havoc, red alert was sounded throughout the state. Almora and Nainital districts bore the maximum brunt of nature's fury, with floods and cloudburst so far taking the toll of 42 lives in Almora alone. The sources in the state administration have confirmed that 172 people have so far met the watery grave, while dozens are still missing.

Around 50,000 people have been evacuated to safer places. The sources also say that the number of cattle which perished in the floods is about 1282, while 3,500 villages have been inundated, affecting 9.35 lacs people and damaging about 10,000 houses. The state administration has also confirmed that more than 22,000 hectares of agricultural land, 1,200 roads and 1,522 drinking water projects have been hit by the natural calamity. "The natural disasters have inflicted a damage of more than Rs. 20,000 crores in the state," says Subhash Kumar, the chief secretary of the state. The power generation in the power stations in the state, including Pathri, Cheela, Koteshwar, Maneri Bhal Phase-I and Phase-II, has been badly hit.

Army has to be called in at the worst affected areas. The paramilitary forces, six columns of the army and 200 personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force were deployed and four helicopters of the army have also been pressed into service. "More than 1,400 villagers, trapped in floods have been rescued by the divers and the NDRF from 20 villages in Laksar tehsil where the caving in of the Bishanpur Kundi - Bhogpur embankment on the Ganga brought deluge in the adjoining areas," says the SSP, Haridwar, Sanjay Gunjyal. "At least nine persons have so far lost their lives in Haridwar district," says the district magistrate, R. Meenakshi Sundaram. The state remained cut off from the rest of the country for many days. Char Dham Yatra had to be stopped as the roads from Rishikesh to Badrinath and other shrines sank at many places and there were heavy landslides.

More than 13,000 pilgrims are stranded on Char Dham yatra route. Road transport was completely thrown out of gear. Haridwar Bijnor national highway, and the national highway between Haridwar and Roorkee and between Dehradun and Delhi were closed for traffic. Due to heavy deposits of silt and water logging on the railway track near the tunnel at Haridwar and at Motichoor near Rishikesh, train services between Haridwar and Dehradun remained disrupted for many days, with hundreds of passengers remaining stranded at Haridwar and Dehradun railway stations.

The chief minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who visited Haridwar and other districts, announced an ex gratia of Rs. 1,00,000 to the next to the kin of the deceased and Rs.50,000 each to those seriously injured. He also demanded that the entire state should be declared by the centre as "disaster hit state". The Governor, Margaret Alva also made an aerial survey of the flood hit districts, including Haridwar. The devastation is of such a vast magnitude that no amount of efforts by the central and the state governments can make up the losses. Ultimately, it is the brave people of the state, accustomed to face the natural disasters with patience and fortitude. Nature has caused incalculable losses, but it has failed to vanquish the heroic spirits of the people of the state. And this is how life always moves on in this state.

Uttarakhand floods leave over 40 dead as on September 19, 2010

Incessant rain in the last 24 hours, which triggered fresh floods in Uttarakhand epecially in Almora district has left over 42 dead. Major rivers in the Utarakhand have been flowing well above the danger mark and continuous rain and rising water level has left thousands homeless. To make the matter worse landslides at various places across Uttarakhand has not only claimed several lives but it made thousands of passengers and devotees stranded. Utarakhand worst floods district are Corbett National Park , Chamauli, Uttarkashi and Nainital.

Feel free to tell about your experience if you have seen or nature's fury in th form of Uttarakhand floods.