Heavy rains trigger landslides across Uttarakhand, one dead in car accident

With heavy rains triggering landslides in many places across Uttarakhand, normal life has been thrown out of gear.

In Uttarkashi district, one person died in a car accident on the Mando-Tekhala motorway late on Tuesday night.

According to the information received from the district disaster control room, the driver lost control of the car when it fell into a 100-meter-deep gorge. The 32-year-old driver was severely injured and succumbed to his injuries during treatment on Wednesday. A 40-year-old was travelling in the same car and is undergoing treatment.

Due to debris falling on the road from the mountains, the Badrinath and Yamunotri highways also got blocked on Wednesday for a few hours. Officials had deployed machines at both the places to open the routes which also lead to the shrines.

Officials from Uttarkashi disaster control room said that the Yamunotri highway is likely to be functional by July 9 after which locals and pilgrims will be able to visit the shrine again without any hassle.

In the Kumaon region, rivers like Gaula, Sher Nala, Surya Nala have swelled up. The district administration has inspected the areas around the rivers. Public sound systems have been installed near the sensitive areas so that people can be informed on a mass scale.

Issuing an orange alert for July 10, the India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Dehradun, Pauri, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts on Friday. It further said that heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places in Tehri, Haridwar, Uttarkashi, Almora and Champawat districts of Uttarakhand.