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In Uttarakhand, Ganga breaches danger mark; officials monitor water level 24X7
At Har-Ki-Pauri and adjacent Ganga ghats, police personnel are regularly awarding pilgrims and local people for listening to warnings and not moving towards Ganga ghats owing to a rise in water level.
After two days of continuous rainfall, the Ganga river breached the danger mark on Tuesday morning in Haridwar.
The Central Hydrology department measured the Ganga water level at 294.35 m on Tuesday morning which is 0.35 m above the danger mark (294 mtr).
District magistrate Vinay Shankar Pandey has directed tehsildars of Haridwar, Laksar, the police and irrigation department to remain alert and cautious about the situation in areas along the Ganga River. Regular updates will also be communicated with the disaster management control room and concerned administrative officials.
The District Disaster Management Control Room is also in touch with respective districts control rooms of Garhwal division round the clock. Haridwar also falls in Garhwal division along with seven other districts.
As a precautionary measure, a 40-member National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) team has been deployed from its Ghaziabad base in Haridwar.
NDRF 8 Battalion Ghaziabad official Raj Kishore said that the squad is on standby and will leave for any disaster-affected place as per directives.
The NDRF squad of expert divers, medical personnel are well trained in disaster-related operations.
At Har-Ki-Pauri and adjacent Ganga ghats, police personnel are regularly awarding pilgrims and local people for listening to warnings and not moving towards Ganga ghats owing to a rise in water level.
A discount of 20% is also being given by hoteliers on directives of the local administration to pilgrims and tourists who are lodging in hotels and lodges owing to the Char Dham pilgrimage being halted due to a two-day rainy spell.
According to district development tourism officer Seema Nautiyal, approximately 28,000 pilgrims and visitors are staying in Haridwar in past two days.
On Sunday, 34.6 mm of rain was recorded while on Monday it was 16.6 mm of rainfall in Haridwar. The minimum temperature also touched the 20 degrees mark.
“This winter season may be slightly more colder than previous years taking into consideration the daily temperatures for the past week and heavy rainfall in the monsoon season,” said Gagan Matta, assistant professor of Environmental Science at Gurukul Kangri University.
