By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 20 Jul: Monsoon season is at its peak these days in Uttarakhand. The Meteorological Department has once again issued an alert for the next 48 hours in many areas of the state. Continuous rain has been recorded in many areas in the day today in several parts of the state. Due to medium to heavy rains over past few days, incidents of landslides have also increased, particularly in the hills. As a result, many big and small routes as well as the national highways are also getting blocked. According to the Disaster Management authorities, the biggest impact of the landslides has been seen along the Char Dham routes and particularly on Hemkund Sahib Yatra. It has also been reported that so far, 23 persons have died due to natural disasters such as landslides etc this season so far.
According to the authorities, as on today, at least 177 big and small roads are blocked due to landslides in the state. According to the administration, roads are being cleared of boulders and the debris to allow movement of the traffic.
In respect of the rural roads, 8 rural roads are closed for traffic in district Rudraprayag, 3 roads in Uttarkashi district, 5 motor roads in Nainital district while 11 roads in Bageshwar district are blocked.
As far as main roads are concerned, in all 33 main roads are closed including 18 roads in Dehradun district itself. 1 border road is closed in Pithoragarh while 3 main roads including one National Highway is blocked in district Almora. In addition, 17 roads are blocked in Champawat district, 8 roads in Pauri Garhwal, 20 roads in Chamoli district and 12 roads in Tehri district are also blocked for traffic. At the same time, 5 roads are also blocked in district Udham Singh Nagar.
The authorities have claimed that efforts are being made to open all the blocked roads at the earliest and that the roads are being cleared off boulders and the debris. Wherever necessary, repair works are also being carried on. The repair and road clearance work is being done in coordination with the Disaster Management Department.
According to Disaster Management Authority, 23 people have died due to natural disasters this season so far while 38 persons have died in road accidents during the current monsoon season. Hundreds of people have also been injured and many houses have also been damaged.
However, Secretary Disaster Management Vinod Kumar Suman shared that at present no major incident has been reported in the last 48 hours. Disaster Management is continuously holding meetings with the district administrations besides being engaged in road clearance and opening of the roads for traffic. Suman also claimed that the Disaster Management Department and the all the district administrations are keeping an eye on the situation of the entire state.
