By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 3 Aug: A spell of heavy rain this afternoon led to waterlogging in several parts of Dehradun, disrupting traffic movement and causing inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians. Areas including Raipur Road, EC Road, DL Road and Rajpur Road witnessed water accumulating on roads following the downpour, slowing vehicular movement for some time.
The spell of rain, however, did not last for long and eased after a while. As the rainfall subsided, accumulated water drained away from most city roads, restoring normal traffic movement in the affected areas.
In view of the rainfall, Municipal Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey directed the officials manning the Disaster Control Room to remain on alert and instructed the departments concerned to ensure that complaints received from the public were attended to and resolved within the stipulated time.
It may be reminded here that the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Dehradun, in its forecast issued at 1 p.m., had predicted light to moderate rainfall at a few places in the city between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and spells of intense rainfall at isolated locations. The IMD also reported rainfall of 28 mm at Mohkampur, 7.5 mm at Hathibarkala, 6.5 mm each at Dehradun and Mussoorie, and 2.5 mm at the Uttarkhand Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mussoorie, during the observation period. The department has also forecast generally cloudy skies with intermittent spells of rain and thundershowers over Dehradun during the next 24 hours, with the possibility of moderate to heavy showers at isolated places.
Meanwhile, incessant overnight rain in the Jaunsar region of Pachhwa Doon severely affected normal life, triggering landslides and the accumulation of debris on several roads. A number of important roads under the PWD, along with several rural link roads, were blocked, bringing traffic to a complete halt in many areas.
The road closures have dealt a severe blow to local farmers, who are unable to transport their vegetable produce and other cash crops to markets on time, resulting in financial losses. The affected roads include the Kalsi-Chakrata main motor road, Haripur-Ichchari motor road, Kharsi link road, Pariyad-Simog road and the Kotha Bend-Chandou-Sainj motor road.
PWD officials confirmed the situation and said that the Kalsi-Chakrata State Highway, being the main arterial route, have been reopened for traffic on priority. JCB machines had been deployed to clear debris and restore connectivity on the remaining blocked rural roads.
Officials said clearance operations are continuing despite intermittent rain and expressed confidence that traffic on all the affected roads would be restored at the earliest.
