With incessant rains lashing in the northwestern regions, landslides and waterlogging has left several inlcuding tourists and pilgrims stranded in many areas. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has rescued people including children, women and elderly stranded in Laksar on Thursday morning.
The landslide in Chamoli district had blocked the Badrinath National Highway (NH-7) in mainly five regions. Highway was blocked in areas including Pagalnala, Gulabkoti and Helang.
Pilgrims visiting Badrinath were stopped at various points due to bad weather and shifted to safer locations including Gauchar, Karnaprayag and Nandprayag, said Chamoli Additional District Information Officer Ravindra Negi.
The roads near Pipalkoti village was blocked as debris and rocks fell on the road, said officials.
Even waterlogging was reported from areas including Main Bazaar, Laksar Basedi Road and Adarsh Colony. SDRF teams carried out rescue operations in various regions.
Many including tourists were stuck in various places due to the monsoon mayhem in the hill states.
In an unfortunate incident, three people drowned in Khoh river in Pauri district due to heavy rains. One of the body, identified as Muhammad Israr (35), was recovered by the SDRF.
The Yamunotri National Highway was blocked due to landslides at Dharasu and Kalyani, while Gangotri Highway was also closed between Pakodanala and Dharali.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has been engaged in efforts of clearing the paths to open the roads. Rudraprayag Highway is also closed due to landslides in Sirobgarh.
In the wake of the monsoon chaos, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami urged people to avoid unnecessary travel. Disaster relief phone numbers were issued by the government to help those stranded.
Dhami also inspected the flood-affected districts of Haridwar. He also reviewed relief and rescue works in these areas.
"The flooding is excessive here, water has entered the houses of people. The Administration and all of us are here. We are seeing to it that people get food and other essential items and they do not face any issues. Water will recede once the rainfall stops. After that, the other losses to the power supply, water and roadways will be reinstated..." Dhami told ANI.
He also conducted an aerial survey to take stock of the situation in the flood-affected areas in Laksar of Haridwar district.
An amount of around Rs 400 crore was released to the disaster-hit state, said Dhami.
The Central Zonal Council meeting scheduled to be chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday was postponed due to the bad weather.
Holiday has been declared for schools in Chamoli and other districts on Thursday as heavy rains are likely to continue for the next two days in Uttarakhand.
