Rivers Ganga, Bhagirathi Cross Danger Mark After Heavy Rains In Uttarakhand

Ganga and Bhagirathi rivers in Uttarakhand crossed the danger mark on Saturday following three days of incessant rains especially in the hills prompting authorities to sound an alert and evacuate villages along their banks.

The Ganga exceeded the danger level in both Haridwar and Rishikesh while Bhagirathi crossed the danger mark at Devprayag in Tehri district.

The Ganga in Haridwar was flowing at 294.1 metres, 0.10 metres above its danger mark, according to the data on the Central Water Commission's (CWC) website.

The Ganga exceeded the danger level in Rishikesh and was flowing four centimetres above it, CWC Superintending Engineer Rajesh Kumar said.

Triveni ghat which was evacuated on Friday is inundated, Mr Kumar said.

The Bhagirathi at Devprayag in Tehri district was flowing at 465.0 metres, two metres above the danger level at 463.0 metres and showed a rising trend, the CWC website said.

The residents of villages on the banks of the rivers are being moved to shelters run by the district administrations concerned and other safe locations, officials said.

Heavy rains have lashed various parts of Uttarakhand over the last three days with Chamoli receiving 142 mm of rainfall on Saturday followed by Karnaprayag with 136 mm, Sri Nagar in Pauri district 128 mm, Rudraprayag 103.8 mm, Joshimath 97.2 mm and Rishikesh 53 mm.

The Alaknanda river in Chamoli district was flowing two metres below the danger mark while Pindar river was flowing 1.5 metres below the danger level in Karnaprayag, Chamoli District Disaster Management office said.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains in the district also blocked three national highways and 84 motor roads with mounds of rubble.

Twenty-seven stranded people including women and children between Mona Cheda and Nalgaon in Chamoli district were rescued and brought to Narayanbagad late on Friday night.

The Badrinath National Highway is blocked at two places between Pipalkoti and Badrinath and the Gwaldam National Highway between Tharali and Karnaprayag, District Disaster Management Centre at Gopeshwar said.

The Gwaldam highway links Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand.

The Gairsain highway was also blocked between Simly and Adi Badri, it said.

Pithoragarh in Kumaon region has also been lashed by heavy rains with the main link road to Haldwani and Tanakpur markets besides around 22 major rural roads closed, District Disaster Management officer of Pithoragarh Bhupender Singh Mahar said.

In Almora, several key motor roads including that which link the district with Haldwani have been closed due to landslides on the way.

"Besides closure of roads, several villages in the district also complained of disruption of power supply," Almora''s District Disaster Management Officer Rakesh Joshi said.

Samna-Liti road in Kapkot block of Bageshwar district has also been blocked due to a tree collapsing on the road.