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The Rishikesh-Chamba National Highway was closed for traffic at Bagaddhar to clear boulders following a landslide, an official said.
“NH94 Rishikesh-Chamba is closed at Bagaddhar. Work is in progress to clear the boulders”, said Brijesh Bhatt, Tehri District Disaster Officer while speaking to the news agency.
A total of 12 village link roads have been closed due to boulders following landslides, said the District Disaster Officer.
Heavy rains in Uttarakhand triggered landslides and flash floods in several places. River drains are in spate in many districts of the state. Dehradun India Meteorological Department issued a two-day red alert in Uttarakhand on August 22. It said the state will witness very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the coming days two to three days.
On Tuesday, amid incessant rainfall in parts of Uttarakhand, a portion of the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway-58 between Purusadi in Chamoli district was damaged.According to the district administration, a 250-metre stretch of the highway in Purusadi was damaged because of this the local administration had to suspend the movement of traffic.
Amid a red alert for heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand, district magistrates have been urged to take precautions in their respective districts.
Pauri’s Senior Superintendant of Police Shweta Choubey has appealed to people to get information about the weather and routes before travelling. She said that due to heavy rains, the river drains in the district were in spate.
An official estimate earlier, put the toll from rain-related incidents in the state at 52 while 37 people were reported to have sustained injuries.
In Himachal Pradesh, too, overnight heavy rain left a trail of destruction across the state, leaving seven people dead and at least 400 roads blocked. With more rain predicted in the hill state, which has already been at the receiving end of a devastating monsoon this year that has caused frequent flooding and landslides, a red alert warning has been issued for parts of Kangra, Kullu, Mandi and Shimla.
Observing that the tourism of Shimla has come to a grinding halt, President of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Stakeholders Association Mohinder Seth on Friday urged both state and central governments to take effective steps to save tourism of the hill state’s capital, which contributes around 7.8 per cent of the total GDP and is highest employment providers.
A moderate-to-high, flash-flood risk warning has also been issued for nine of the 12 districts in the state —Shimla, Sirmaur, Kangra, Chamba, Mandi, Hamirpur, Solan, Bilaspur and Kullu.Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Kullu were among the worst-hit districts on Wednesday, even as it rained the most in Bilaspur — 180mm in 24 hours. Two people were killed in Shimla and five in Mandi. In Solan, the cantonment town of Subathu suffered heavy damage due to flash floods, which also triggered landslides.
Two major tourist highways of the state — from Chandigarh to Shimla and Manali — continued to be blocked. The Chandigarh-Shimla road was blocked at Chakki Morh, a tourist spot near Parwanoo in Solan, and neat Shoghi in Shimla.
Kullu, where tourist season ends in November, was again cut off from the rest of the state. Nearly all roads leading to the town, including Chandigarh-Manali highway, were blocked by debris from flash floods and landslides. The Manali highway was closed at a number of places due to landslides in Mandi district. Two newly built tunnels were also flooded near Pandoh, after a stream started overflowing in the morning.
A temporary road, which had been built to overcome the blockage of the highway, was also closed for traffic. Several vehicles near Pandoh have been stranded for close to 40 hours.
An administration official said slush from the rain had blocked the temporary road. “There is mud everywhere. It’s too risky to drive on this road; hence, it has been closed to traffic. Road will stay closed till weather improves,” said the official.
Even link roads that connect Mandi to Kullu have been blocked. An official said both Kullu-Bajaura-Kataula-Mandi and Kullu-Pandoh-Gohar-Chailchowk-Sundernagar link roads had been closed.
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