Rain lashed many places in Uttarakhand on Sunday, triggering landslides that blocked several roads, even as the Ganga crossed the danger mark in Devprayag and the warning level in Haridwar due to a major water leak from a dam on the Alaknanda river.
According to officials, the Ganga was flowing at a height of 463.20 meters after which water filled Sangam Ghat, Ramkund, Dhaneshwar Ghat and Fuladi Ghat. There was also a huge jump in the water level of the Ganga after 2,000-3,000 cusecs of water was released from the GVK hydro project dam built on the Alaknanda river.
Tehri District Disaster Management Officer Brijesh Bhatt said the district administration often calls to warn people to stay away from the river banks. He said the water level of the Ganga in the Muni ki Reti area of Tehri near Rishikesh has also risen to 339.60 metres, which is 0.10 meters above the warning level of 339.50 metres.
Officials said the Ganga crossed the warning level of 293 meters and reached 293.15 meters in Haridwar on Sunday evening, adding that an alert has been issued in low-lying areas due to the increased river level.
The State Disaster Operations Center directed Haridwar District Magistrate Dheeraj Singh to repair Gate No. 10 of the Bhimgoda barrage as soon as possible to avoid major losses due to high velocity water flowing through the breached gate.
A flood-like situation prevails in 71 villages of Laksar, Khanpur, Roorkee, Bhagwanpur and Haridwar tehsils due to incessant rains for the past few days.
Rescue and relief operations are underway with the help of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army and State Police.
A bridge abutment on the Joshimath-Malari road was damaged due to debris and excess water flowing into the Girthi Ganga river at Niti Ghati in Chamoli district of Joshimath, they said.
According to the Disaster Management Department, this bridge was used only by the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
The Dehradun Meteorological Center issued an ‘orange’ warning of heavy rain in all 13 districts of Uttarakhand on Monday.
An “Orange” warning is issued to warn of extremely bad weather with the potential to disrupt commuting with road and sewer closures and power outages. Meanwhile, the level of river Kali in Dharchula area of Pithoragarh is also above the alert level of 889 meters.
In Roorkee, Bhagwanpur, Laksar and Haridwar tehsils, 3,756 families in 71 villages were affected. Of these families, 81 have been shifted to relief camps, they said.
Five people died due to floods in these areas. Seven houses were completely damaged and 201 suffered partial damage. Seventeen roads and nine bridges were also damaged due to heavy rains in Haridwar, they added.
Kapkot received 70 mm of the state’s maximum rainfall in the last 24 hours, the state emergency operations center said. Mussoorie received 61 mm of rainfall, Karnprayag 57 mm, Chamoli 54.4 mm, Nagthat 53 mm, Mohkampur 48 mm, Vikasnagar 41 mm and Uttarkashi 39 mm.
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