Garhwal Post Bureau
DEHRADUN, 18 Jul: India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued warnings of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, lightning and intense showers across several districts of Uttarakhand in the coming days. In view of the alerts and the warnings, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) has instructed all the district magistrates to ensure strict precautionary and preventive measures. The SEOC has directed that from July18-22 district administrations must heighten vigilance, maintain constant monitoring of sensitive areas and keep relief and rescue teams fully prepared.
On July 19, a red alert has been declared for Nainital, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar where extremely heavy rainfall is expected at some locations. Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Haridwar and Bageshwar are under orange alert with forecasts of heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by lightning and intense showers, while Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Almora and Pithoragarh are under yellow alert for heavy rainfall. On July 20, red alerts have been issued for parts of Dehradun, Haridwar and Tehri, with orange alerts for Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Tehri, Uttarkashi and Pauri. For July 21, orange alerts have been issued for Dehradun and Bageshwar for heavy to very heavy rainfall with lightning, while Tehri, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Nainital, Chamoli and Pithoragarh will remain under yellow alert. On July 22, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh will continue under yellow alert for heavy rainfall, with thunderstorms and intense showers likely across most parts of the State.
Secretary, Disaster Management and Rehabilitation, Vinod Kumar Suman, stated that in view of the warnings, all the DMs across the state have been instructed to keep special watch over sensitive areas, ensure district emergency operation centres remain active round the clock, keep relief and rescue teams on standby and deploy machinery and resources at landslide‑prone routes. He also appealed to the residents, the Char Dham pilgrims and the tourists to take the weather warnings seriously, avoid unnecessary travel, check weather and road conditions before setting out, stay away from rivers, streams and waterlogged areas during heavy rainfall and exercise utmost caution at landslide‑prone sites. In case of emergencies, people have been urged to immediately inform the local administration or disaster control room and seek assistance through helplines 112, 1070 and 1077.
