Heavy rains lash Uttarakhand, nearly 100 roads closed

DEHRADUN/MUSSOORIE/UTTARKASHI/HARIDWAR: Continuous, heavy rain across Uttarakhand caused nearly 100 roads, including rural roads, state highways and national highways, to close on Saturday, mainly due to landslides. The rains also led to waterlogging and traffic jams, roadblocks in hilly areas and several road stretches getting damaged.
According to data obtained from the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), till Saturday evening, a total of 19 roads in Champawat, 15 in Nainital, 11 in Chamoli, 10 in Pithoragarh, seven in Almora, six in Pauri, five in Dehradun, four in Tehri and Rudraprayag each and two in Bageshwar were blocked due to landslides.
The current rain spell had started almost five days ago and is likely to continue till July 13, with 'heavy to very heavy rainfall' expected on July 11 and 12, as per the regional met centre. Bikram Singh, the meteorological centre's director, said that travelling to the hills should be avoided during this time, as landslides are likely.
Pilgrims of the ongoing Char Dham and Kanwar yatra also bore the brunt of the heavy showers. Due to a landslide near Bazpur Chaada on the Badrinath national highway, vehicles were diverted towards the Kothiyalsand route on Saturday morning. The highway was opened later in the day. On Gangotri highway, recurring landslides kept closing the 100-metre Bandarkot stretch. As it falls on the only route to the shrine town, vehicles ended up waiting for around 2 hours before the road was restored by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) teams. According to authorities, the roads to Kedarnath and Yamunotri are unhindered so far.
Meanwhile, waterlogging was seen across Haridwar town, which is currently seeing heavy rush of kanwariyas coming to fetch Ganga water. The bazaar, where kanwar makers sell their wares, was flooded on Saturday, causing losses to the traders. The 'kanwar patri', a footpath that stretches along Haridwar's borders and is used by kanwariyas to walk to Har-ki-Pauri, was also submerged.
Dehradun saw almost non-stop rain throughout the day on Saturday, leading to waterlogging in many areas. In neighbouring Mussoorie, effects of heavy rains for the last two weeks started showing on the roads, some of them recently-repaired and others under-construction.