Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], July 9 : Amid heavy downpours in Uttarakhand and a warning from the Meteorological Department, District Magistrate Sonika issued an order on Sunday to shut down all government and non-government schools, as well as Anganwadi centers, for classes 1 to 12 in Dehradun district on Monday.
The District Magistrate specified that schools and colleges with pre-determined examination schedules would be allowed to proceed with their exams as planned.
"Apart from this, one day holiday has been declared in all other schools/colleges, Anganwadi centres from class 01 to class 12 of the district," an officials statement said.
Due to a continuous heavy downpours during the weekend, the northwestern Himalayan region experienced severe monsoon rains, resulting in road blockages and people were stranded due to landslides.
In Uttarakhand, Badrinath National Highway was closed due to a landslide near Chhinka and NH-9 was closed in the Kumaon division at Champawat.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday predicted "extremely heavy rainfall" in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana. The IMD has issued an orange and red alert for Himachal and Uttarakhand, which means that there is a "very high risk of heavy to very heavy rainfall". The weather department has also issued a yellow alert for Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
On July 9, Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Hamirpurr, Una, Bilaspur, Solan, Shimla, and Sirmaur are expected to receive extremely heavy rainfall. Lahaul & Spiti is expected to get heavy rainfall. For Uttarakhand, the meteorological department predicted heavy rains on Sunday in Uttarkashi, Tehri, and Dehradun districts and on July 11 and 12 in eight of the state's 13 districts - Chamoli, Pauri, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Almora, Champawat, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar.
In the Tehri district, five out of 11 passengers were rescued after a vehicle rolled downhill in Gular in the district while a search operation for six other passengers was underway.
As per the State Disaster Response Force, the accident occurred on the Srinagar-Badrinath Highway.
Badrinath Highway is continuously obstructed due to falling of debris and boulders from the hill near Chhinka.
"The highway has been obstructed since Sunday morning due to continuous falling of debris from the hill, Badrinath National Highway has again been obstructed near Chhinka," an official said.
Several parts of the northeast witnessed an intense spell of rain on Saturday.
Continuous heavy rainfall in Uttarkashi has caused the water level of the Bhagirathi River to rise. Due to river erosion, a section of the wall in Joshiada has been damaged.
Officials have instructed government departments to remain vigilant, and people have been advised to exercise caution.
The heavy rains have also resulted in waterlogging, traffic jams, roadblocks, and damage to various road sections in hilly areas.
In Haridwar, which is currently witnessing a high influx of kanwariyas (pilgrims fetching Ganga water), waterlogging has been observed.
In response to a red alert issued by the Indian Meteorological Department for Sunday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has directed all state officials to remain vigilant in anticipation of heavy rainfall.
"All pilgrims should proceed on their yatra keeping the weather conditions in mind," the CM told ANI.
The State Disaster Operation Center located in the State Secretariat is keeping an eye on the state in view of the alerts of the Meteorological Department.
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