Uttarakhand: Nandanagar motorway blocked due to debris after heavy rainfall

Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], June 26 : The Nandanagar motorway has been blocked due to debris coming from the hill at Chaman Mandir near Nandprayag owing to heavy rainfall in the state.

Many vehicles are stuck on both sides due to road blockades.

Police and administration are engaged in the operation to open the road.

In Uttarkashi, due to heavy rains in Gyansu located at Uttarkashi district headquarters, four residential houses have developed huge cracks after a security wall broke out.

House owner Rakesh Lal said that if security arrangements are not made by the administration, the houses can be damaged.

"People are scared because of cracks in the houses," he added.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday that the southwest monsoon is active and has covered the whole of Maharashtra. The monsoon will move forward in the next two days covering other parts as well, the IMD said. According to IMD director, Dr Mrityunjay Mohapatra monsoon arrived in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and parts of Haryana.

Parts of Haridwar city got waterlogged owing to heavy rainfall since late night on Saturday. Areas like Jwalapur, Kankhal, Ranipur Maud, and Roshanabad in the city got affected.

Owing to heavy rains in Rudraprayag district, Kedarnath Yatra has been stopped at Sonprayag, informed officials on Sunday.

Rudraprayag District Magistrate Mayur Dixit said, "Kedarnath has been closed till further orders till the heavy rains continue."

Meanwhile, Haridwar received 78 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, followed by Dehradun (33.2) and Uttarkashi (27.7), as per the India Meteorological Department.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday made a surprise inspection of the State Disaster Management Control Room located at the Secretariat and got information regarding the situation of heavy rains in the state.

Instructing the officers, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the districts under the state where heavy rains are continuing and there is a possibility of heavy rains further.

"Maintain mutual communication and coordination with all those districts. So that emergency situations can be dealt with in time. He instructed the officers to always be in alert mode for disaster relief and rescue operations, CM Dhami said.

CM Dhami said that people living near rivers and drains across the state should be asked to be vigilant.

"In case of rehabilitating the people, there should be an adequate number of night shelters and relief materials in each district. This should also be taken special care of," he added.