Red alert issued as rain lashes Uttarakhand

Dehra Dun: The Uttarakhand government on Thursday night issued a red alert following heavy rains in the state that left 10 people dead and triggered a series of landslides.

An official statement said Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has advised the administration to issue red alert in sensitive zones particularly in Chardham and Kailash Mansarovar yatra areas.

Nishank 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 on Thursday night.

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 rains.