Rains lash many places in Uttarakhand, several roads blocked due to landslides

Dehradun: Rains lashed many places in Uttarakhand on Sunday, triggering landslides that blocked several roads, including the Badrinath national highway, officials said.

The abutment of a bridge 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’s Joshimath, they said. According to the disaster management department, this bridge was only used by the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

The Dehradun Meteorological Centre has issued an ‘orange’ alert, warning of heavy rain, in all 13 districts of Uttarakhand on Monday.

An ‘orange’ alert is issued as a warning for extremely bad weather with the potential for disruption in commuting with road and drain closures and interruption of power supply.

Meanwhile, rescue and relief operations continued in flood-hit areas in Haridwar.

National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Army and police are carrying out the operations in Roorkee, Bhagwanpur, Laksar and Haridwar tehsils, the officials said.

In these tehsils, 3,756 families have been affected in 71 villages. Of these families, 81 have been shifted to relief camps, they said.

Five people have died in these areas due to the floods. Seven houses have been completely damaged and 201 suffered partial damage. Seventeen roads and nine bridges have also been damaged due to the heavy rains in Haridwar, they added.