Heavy rain alert in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, Feb 25: The MeT department has issued a heavy rain alert for the next 24 hours in most parts of Uttarakhand which suffered extensive damage in the 2013 deluge.

Chief Secretary N Ravishankar said he has asked all district magistrates to keep a vigil and take precautionary measures in view of the MeT department alert for heavy rains in most parts of Uttarakhand in the next 24 hours especially Uttarkashi, Tehri Garhwal, Pithoragarh and hill areas of Dehradun districts.

Meanwhile, the higher reaches of the mountain districts of the state have been receiving snowfall and heavy rainfall lashed plain areas since morning.

In 2013, hundreds of persons were killed and thousands went missing after a massive deluge ravaged large parts of the state including areas close to the four famous Himalayan shrines located in Uttarakhand.

Personnel engaged in reconstruction work at Kedarnath which bore the brunt of the 2013 disaster have been informed of the heavy rain alert issued by the MeT department and asked to be careful and vigilant.

Rudraparayg DM Raghav Langar said Kedarnath is receiving snowfall since early morning today which has prompted the administration to halt reconstruction work for the time being.

Though Kedarnath is not a landslide prone area, whenever there is snowfall reconstruction work is halted as a precautionary measure, he said.

As per the MeT department alert, there could be snowfall in areas above 3,500 metres and heavy rains in area located above 2,000 to 3,500 metres for the next 24 hours starting at 9 AM today, the DM said.

PTI