Heavy Rains Lash Uttarakhand; 71 Roads Closed, IMD Issues Red Alert For July 9

Dehradun: Incessant monsoon rains threw life out of gear in Uttarakhand, with landslides disrupting transport links and 20 people losing their lives in calamity-related incidents from April 1 onwards.

Since the IMD and SEOC consider the next 48 hours to be extremely crucial in view of the approaching monsoon activity, an alert for heavy to very heavy rain with thunderstorms has been issued for five districts of the state on July 9.

The active monsoon has also disrupted local transport links and resulted in the closure of 71 roads, including two highways and several others in rural areas. Chamoli is the worst affected district with 19 blocked roads, while Pithoragarh is second with 15 roads, and Bageshwar third with 11 blocked roads.

Average rainfall for the last 24 hours in the state is 15.2 mm, while the highest amount of rainfall occurred in Pantnagar at 113.8 mm, followed by Bhagwanpur at 68 mm and Rishikesh at 54 mm.

According to weather officials, despite this strong monsoon season, the overall monsoon in the state has been categorised as 'normal'. Char Dham Yatra is still taking place, and till date more than 4.3 million pilgrims have reached the sites, including 1.45 million in Badrinath and 1.39 million in Kedarnath.

Although there is a constant rise in the levels of the Ganga and Alaknanda due to this continuous rain, both rivers are flowing safely below the danger level.

In order to address the mounting challenges, the state government, along with the SDRF and district administrations, has been placed on red alert, with machinery being used for clearing blocked roads. It has been firmly recommended that people not travel unless necessary and keep away from rivers and monitor weather reports before embarking on any journeys, as light to moderate rain is expected until July 14.