Red alert issued in Uttarakhand due to landslides

The Uttarakhand government tonight issued a red alert following heavy rains in the state that left 10 people dead and triggered a series of landslides. CM has also directed the district administration in these areas to stop leaves of all the officers of police, power, drinking water and medical and hospital staff members.

Hundreds of pilgrims to three Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri have been stranded following closure of roads due to landslides even as ten persons died in several rain-related incidents across Uttarakhand in the last fortnight. Ten persons have so far died in various rain-related incidents like flashfloods, landslides and boulders during the past fortnight, officials today said. Landslides triggered by heavy rains continued to hit several places, blocking vehicular traffic on various roads including national highways leading to the three shrines. However, Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway, which was blocked after a glacier hit the road just two kms away from Badrinath shrine, has been reopened for vehicular traffic.

Rishikesh-Kedarnath national highway has also been blocked at Sirobagad due to intermittent landslides. Long queues of vehicles are seen on both sides of the road and efforts are on to clear the debris to reopen it for traffic.

The vehicular traffic on Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway between Dharasu and Nalupani could not be resumed on the fourth consecutive day today as landslides continued to hit the area. Rishikesh-Yamunotri national highway was also closed at Feri in Uttarkashi district due to landslides. BRO personnel along with police personnel are trying to clear the debris and reopen the road for vehicular traffic. Meanwhile, several areas of the hill state received moderate to heavy rains during the past 24 hours.

Chamoli experienced 84.0 mm of rainfall followed by Nainital 64.6 mm, Rudraprayag 59.0 mm, Uttarkashi 55.0 mm, Lansedowne 54 mm, Rishikesh 50.0 mm and Dehra Dun 38.8 mm. The Met office has predicted that several areas of the hill state will continue to receive rains for another day and some areas like Nainital, Almora and Champawat might receive rather heavy to heavy rains.

Traffic disruptions

It is monsoon time and road traffic disruption time. Like every year, several roads in Uttarakhand. Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway was blocked just two km away from Badrinath shrine following landslides caused by heavy rains. Hundreds of pilgrims were stranded in the area. After every landslide efforts are made to remove the debris from the road and for this personnel of Border Road Organisation (BRO) are deployed to clear the roadblock and open the road for vehicular traffic. In some areas PWD personnel are deployed to restore traffic. This time Rishikesh-Kedarnath national highway has also been blocked at Sirobagad due to landslides. Sometime traffic remains disrupted for days. For example this year on Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway between Dharasu and Nalupani traffic could not be resumed on the third consecutive day on Tuesday as landslides continued to hit the area. Every time there is a landslide leading to a blockade, long queues of vehicles are seen on both sides of the road. So if you are still busy planning Char Dham yatra, think twice. The season of landslides has begun and you must factor in this unforeseen development into your itinerary to avoid last minute disappointment due to landslides.