DEHRADUN/NAINITAL/PITHORAGARH: After heavy rainfall lashed Uttarakhand onFriday, recurring landslides blocked several highways and rivers rose dangerously close to warning levels.
In Garhwal, a nearly 12-metre chunk of the Rishikesh-Yamunotri highway (NH-94) was washed away at Fakot in Tehri Garhwal district, the State Emergency Operation Centre said. The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway also got blocked near Shivmurti in Tehri district after boulders and rocks started rolling down the hillsides due to overnight rain. District magistrate, Tehri Garhwal, has issued orders to completely stop traffic on the NH-54 from Tapovan till Maletha and from Narendra Nagar to Chamba on NH-94, till the damaged sections of the highways are repaired.
The Tanakpur-Champawat national highway (NH-09) was blocked near Swala after Thursday’s rains. Besides, the Joshimath-Malari state highway, which leads to the China border, is blocked near Tamaknala and Jumma for nearly two weeks now.
In Kumaon, at least four major national and state highways, most of them along the India-China border, were blocked, cutting off several villages.
According to the disaster management department, heavy rains in Dharchula, Didihat and Munsiyari areas of Pithoragarh wreaked havoc on border towns, blocking the Thal-Munsiyari highway, Tawaghat-Lipulekh road and three others near the China border.
Apart from these, 17 rural roads in Pithoragarh were also blocked and several in Nainital, Champawat and Bageshwar were damaged.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old contractual worker with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Naveen Singh, was killed while clearing debris at Tadkot in Dharchula. “Heavy boulders fell on the earthmover machine Singh was operating, crushing the machine with him inside. He was a resident of Khunti village of Dharchula. We also had to evacuate around two dozen shops in the area,” a BRO official informed TOI.
In another death reported from Dharchula tehsil, a 28-year-old woman, Pashupatinath Devi, while drying clothes outside her home, was crushed underneath falling boulders, which had been loosened by torrential rains.
The Champawat-Tanakpur national highway, Bhowali highway in Nainital and Ramnagar road were alsoblocked.
Bikram Singh, director of the regional meteorological centre, said,“Rains will continue in the state till August 28, as the western end of the monsoon continues to run along foothills of the Himalayas. Dehradun was lashed by 140mm rain, Mussoorie received torrential showers, with 250 mm rain being recorded on Thursday night, and Narendra Nagar in Tehri Garhwal district recorded 110mm rainfall.”
