Rains cause widespread damage in U’khand
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 26 Jul: Continuous rains in Uttarakhand during the past 48 hours, particularly in Garhwal region, have resulted in heavy damage to public and private property. Disaster-like conditions prevail after the heavy rains in several districts of Garhwal division. Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts have suffered the most damage due to heavy rains in the last 24 hours. Even in Mussoorie, there are reports of several pushtas having crumbled causing damage.
As per the reports coming in from Rudraprayag, a foot bridge connecting five villages district has drowned in the rising water level of the Alaknanda River, due to which the villagers are stuck in their homes since yesterday. This bridge was the only means of movement for the villagers as per the reports. Students could not go to school this morning as a result even as the villagers are waiting for the water to decrease on the riverbank. At present, the connectivity to villages like Kotli, Bansi, Molda, Sera, etc., of the district remains cut off. Due to the rising water level of the Alaknanda River, the connection to several other villages of Bhardar Patti also been cut off from the district headquarters. The said villages have not been connected by road so far and the only bridge for pedestrian movement to these villages remains submerged in the river at present.
The villagers sat on the banks of the river since morning and waited for the water to subside, but the water level of the river did not subside even till this evening. It is being claimed by the locals that the major reason for the bridge sinking in the river is the lake of GVK company located in Srinagar at some distance from here. This bridge also submerged in the river due to the rising water level of the lake. There is an ancient Shiva temple of the villagers near this bridge. Half of the Shiva temple and the bridge leading to the temple are also presently submerged in the Alaknanda River.
Heavy damage has also been in Rudraprayag district due to torrential rains in Chamoli district. Due to the rains in Chamoli district, the water level of the Alaknanda River is continuously increasing, due to which the problems of the rural people are also increasing till a long distance downstream.
Late last night, due to excessive rain in Rudraprayag Madmaheshwar Valley, the bridge connecting the footpath at Bantoli in village Gaundar was washed away and the connecting road was broken and the people who went there were trapped. After the information was received at the district headquarters, teams of police, SDRF and DDRF reached at the site, and are reported to be working to evacuate the people who have reached here. People are being dropped by helicopter from the temporary helipad prepared at Nanu, about 6-7 km below Madmaheshwar Dham, to Ransi village, from where the return journey is being done by road. A total of 68 people have been evacuated safely from here so far through the chopper.
In addition, according to the reports coming in from Gopeshwar, due to heavy rains in Banswara in Nandanagar, debris entered many houses and as a result several cow shelters have also been damaged. Around 10 metre long portion of the Nandprayag-Nandanagar motor road was also washed away near Kandai bridge. Due to which more than 50 villages of Nandanagar development block have been cut off from other areas. According to Chamoli District Disaster Management, debris has entered a building in Banswara, while the courtyards of two other buildings have been damaged. One cow shelter has been completely damaged, while debris has entered two cow shelters. There is no loss of life or animal here, claims the district administration.
Around 109 mm of rain has been recorded under Chamoli tehsil area in past few hours.
District Disaster Management Officer Nand Kishore Joshi has said that there has been damage in villages due to heavy rains. The debris has entered five houses in Burali Tok of Kothiyalasain near Gopeshwar amid heavy rain last night and the houses have been damaged as a result.
The Badrinath Highway also remained closed due to debris at many places in the district till 10 a.m. By 10 a.m., the highway was made operational for vehicular movement.
On the other hand, a building in Makholi village of Gram Panchayat Dimmar has been damaged due to torrential rain in Karnaprayag. According to the villagers, due to excessive rainwater entering the rooms of a building where the family concerned was sleeping, the family had to come out of the house to save lives. As soon as the family came out of the house into the courtyard, the house collapsed and got damaged. The affected family has demanded compensation against the house collapse.
Ganga flowing above danger mark in Rishikesh and Haridwar
By Our Staff Reporter
Rishikesh, 26 Jul: After continuous rains in the hill areas of Uttarakhand, Ganga is in spate in Rishikesh and Haridwar. In fact, the Ganga is flowing above the danger mark in Rishikesh. Due to which an alert has been issued by the local administration to the people living along the riverbanks. Through the day today, Ganga kept flowing above the ghats at Muni ki Reti, Tapovan and Triveni Ghat. The warning line of the water level of Ganga at Triveni Ghat is 339.50 metres. Since this afternoon, Ganga is flowing at 339.52 metres here. While the danger mark is 340.50 metres. In Haridwar, Ganga is flowing at 293.25 metres, which is above the warning line.
When the water level of Ganga increased, the Kotwali police in Rishikesh made an announcement in the areas near the Ganga banks. From the point of view of safety, people living along the banks of Ganga and the devotees who reached the banks for bathing were warned. Inspector in charge of Kotwali RS Kholia said that information was received today from the Disaster Control Office. In which it was stated that water will be released from Tehri and Srinagar Dams at 9 a.m. The water level of Ganga crossed the danger mark by 2 p.m. The police made announcements through loudspeakers at Chandheshwar Nagar, Mayakund and Triveni Ghat on the banks of the Ganga. Water police personnel have been deployed on the ghats and the people are being warned about the rising water level of Ganga by loudspeakers.
At the same time, due to heavy rains in Mussoorie, a big boulder fell from the mountain in front of the Tibetan market on Mall Road, due to which the electricity feeder pillar was damaged. There has been a lot of damage in Mussoorie due to heavy rains. Fortunately, no vehicle was parked on the roadside, otherwise a major accident could have happened. Due to damage to the electricity feeder pillar, the electricity supply to Mall Road and surrounding areas got affected, which was restored after about four hours. At the same time, a wall collapsed under the Tibetan market, due to which the connecting road to the area was broken. At the same time, an electricity pole got hung up due to the fall of a tree in Happy Valley, due to which the power supply in the area got disrupted. A tree fell on a guest house on Mussoorie Nagar Palika Parishad Marg, due to which the guest house has been damaged.
