IMD has issued ‘heavy rain’ alert for next 4 days in Uttarakhand
Highlight
- Locals and tourists have been advised to be cautious
- Tehri, Pauri, Nainital and Champawat are some of the districts where ‘heavy rain’ alert was issued
- IMD has already announced the arrival of monsoon in entire Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand Weather Alert: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that Uttarakhand is likely to receive heavy rains for the next four days. According to the Meteorological Department, an alert of heavy rain has been issued in Dehradun, Nainital and Bageshwar districts.
“There is a possibility of heavy rain in Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital and Champawat districts on July 5, 6 and 7,” the Meteorological Department said.
Heavy rain warning has also been issued in Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Nainital, Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri and Champawat.
Meanwhile, several trees were uprooted while vehicles were damaged after heavy rains in Dehradun on Monday.
Local people and tourists have been advised to be alert about landslides, rock fall, road debris, erosion and water inflow in river channels in vulnerable areas due to heavy rains.
Monsoon arrives in Uttarakhand
As the IMD announced the arrival of monsoon in the state, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has given several instructions to the officials as part of the state’s preparedness. Describing the next three months as important from the point of view of possible disasters, Dhami has asked the district magistrates to take most of the decisions at their level.
Experts say that the Himalayas are young and fragile, and therefore, highly vulnerable to natural calamities such as landslides, earthquakes and floods, especially during the monsoon when its vulnerability to disasters increases.
Dr Sushil Kumar, former head of the Geophysics Group at the Institute of Himalayan Geology, said that the Himalayas are a relatively small mountain range, with only 30-50 feet of soil on its upper surface.
If this soil is tampered with even a little bit, especially during the rains, leading to landslides, it starts eroding the soil.
He said that the cutting of hills for construction of Evergreen Road Project, heavy rush of pilgrims for Char Dham Yatra and increase in the catchment area of Tehri Dam due to rains have also increased the susceptibility of the state to natural calamities.
Kumar said that the damage caused by disasters can be avoided by putting in place early warning system in the state, but for it to be effective, the government will also have to strengthen the internet network.
He also urged the government to build earthquake resistant shelter homes for the population living in disaster prone areas and motivate them to adopt earthquake resistant building construction techniques.
According to the Uttarakhand Disaster Mitigation and Management Center data, around 600 people lost their lives and 500 others were injured in natural calamities from 2014 to 2020.
Hundreds of houses, other buildings, roads and bridges were damaged during this period. More than 2,050 hectares of agricultural land was also destroyed in these disasters.
(with inputs from agencies)
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