Educational institutes to remain shut in Uttarakhand as precautionary measure

New Delhi, Oct 18: Most educational institutions across Uttarakhand will remain closed on Monday while there will be a ban on trekking, mountaineering, and camping activities in the high altitude areas of the state till Tuesday as a precautionary measure in view of the heavy rain alert issued by the Met department, PTI reported.

The orders for closure of educational institutions, including schools, colleges and anganwadi centres, were issued on Sunday by the district administrations following a heavy rain alert issued for all the 13 districts of Uttarakhand on Monday.

The Chamoli district administration also banned all trekking, mountaineering and camping activities in the Nanda Devi biosphere reserve and the entire forest area of Gopeshwar till October 19.

The district level Khel Mahakumbh events to be held at parade and pavilion grounds in Dehradun on October 18-19 have been cancelled. They have been rescheduled for October 24 and 25.

Heavy to very heavy rains, lightning, hail storms and high speed winds (60-70 kmph) have been predicted by the Met department for all the 13 districts of Uttarakhand, including Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Almora, Nainitalk Champawat, Dehradun Tehri and Pauri.

Administrations of Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Rudrparayag districts have been asked to be extra careful as the Chardham yatra is underway in these districts.

(PTI)