Haridwar on high alert as Ganga in spate : The Tribune India

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Haridwar on high alert as Ganga in spate

HARIDWAR/ DEHRADUN: The Haridwar administration has sounded a high alert in the district as the water level in the Ganga has reached the danger mark following incessant rains in Garhwal for the past two days.

Haridwar on high alert as Ganga in spate

The Ganga in spate in Haridwar on Tuesday as rains continued in both upper and lower reaches of Garhwal division. Tribune photo: RAMESHWAR GAUR



Tribune News Service

Haridwar/ Dehradun, July 7

The Haridwar administration has sounded a high alert in the district as the water level in the Ganga has reached the danger mark following incessant rains in Garhwal for the past two days.

Administrative officials, police personnel, the state disaster relief force and disaster management officials have been asked to remain prepared to meet any exigency. Villagers living along the Ganga banks have been cautioned against floods.

The water level in the Neeldhara-based Central Water Resources Observatory was recorded at 291 m, just one metre below the danger mark of 292 m.

SDO, Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department, MK Singh said round the clock monitoring of the level in the river and the Ganga canal was being done.

Meanwhile, heavy showers have led to waterlogging in various parts of the city. Schools also remained closed today following the directives of District Magistrate Harish Chand Semwal.

Chief Education Officer Ajay Naudiyal, however, said schools would remain open tomorrow.

Bumper to bumper jams were witnessed at the major intersections in the city, including Chandracharya square, Bhagat Singh square, BHEL-Shivalik Nagar intersection, Desh Rakshak square and Shankaracharya square.

Repair and construction work on the NH-58 and inner colonies has also affected.

Kedarnath yatra remains disrupted

Barring the Kedarnath pilgrimage, the Char Dham Yatra was continuing smoothly in Uttarakhand as a large number of pilgrims visited Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and Hemkund shrines on Tuesday.

The Kedarnath yatra remained disrupted due to continuous rains. As many as 81 pilgrims used helicopter services provided by private companies to pay obeisance at the Kedarnath temple.

According to Rudraprayag disaster management authorities, the Kedarnath yatra was suspended today due to inclement weather conditions. They said the decision to restart the yatra would now be taken after there was an improvement in weather conditions.

On the other hand, rivers were running in full spate in the state. The Ganga in Haridwar was touching 291.90 m mark. Similarly, the water level of the Bhagirathi at the Tiloth bridge in Uttarkashi was at 1,119.46 m. The water level in the Tehri Dam touched 830-m mark. Several interconnecting roads were blocked due to landslides triggered by heavy rain in the state. A total of 34 rural roads were blocked in Pauri Garhwal district. As many as 15 roads were blocked in Nainital, 14 in Almora, 5 in Champawat district and 7 rural roads in Bageshwar district were blocked due to landslides.

Meanwhile, the Met office has forecast heavy rain at isolated places, especially in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and Almora districts of Uttarakhand on July 8.

Meanwhile, 6.19 lakh pilgrims have so far visited the shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, Gangotri and Hemkund Sahib, Disaster Management Advisory Council vice-chairman Vijay Saraswat said today.

Saraswat, while addressing a press conference, said, “As of now (till July 5), a total of 6.19 lakh pilgrims have so far visited the Char Dhams and Hemkund Sahib. Of these, 1.17 lakh visited the Gangotri shrine, 97,621 visited the Yamunotri shrine, a total of 2.50 lakh pilgrims visited the Badrinath shrine and 1.12 lakh visited the Kedarnath shrine. A total of 40,757 pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at Hemkund Sahib.”

He said preparations by the government to tackle any exigency on the Char Dham route due to changing weather conditions had managed to restore the confidence of the pilgrims.

“We have deployed 11 units of the SDRF in four disaster prone districts. Three districts are in Garhwal — Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Chamoli — and one district in Kumaon — Pithoragarh. Besides, a unit of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) is on a standby in Ghaziabad and can respond within four hours of an emergency call,” he said.

Saraswat said the government had planned to raise a student wing on the lines of the NCC and the NSS from schools and colleges located near riverbanks. “The students will be trained in life saving and other emergency training activities. We will soon have a strong force of trained youth to render their services in the event of floods and other natural calamities,” he added.

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