Monday, September 20, 2010

Total devastation in Uttarakhand

There has been no respite for people in Uttarakhand on Tuesday (September 21) as the flood threat still looms large on them. While the loss of lives owing to floods in Uttarakhand stands at 65, there is possibiity of more damage as the water level in tehri dam has already crossed the danger mark. Areas like Almora, Khamoli, nainital and uttarakashi have suffered the most owing to these floods.

Around 8000 people have been evacuated from Uttarakhand as the national disaster response force moved into the flood hit areas, The Uttarakhand CM is also visting the affected areas today.

The water level of major rivers continue to rise in Uttarakhand even as most parts of the state experienced a bright sunshine, giving some relief to the region where heavy rains in the past few days had wreaked havoc killing over 60 people and rendering thousands homeless.

In Haridwar, Ganga is flowing above the danger level and has breached its embankment at Bishanpur Kundi villageinundating scores of areas like Luxor, Rayasi and Gangadaspur.

According to Haridwar District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram, nearly 500 people from Gangadaspur village were rescued with the help of Army. National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) personnel have already reached Haridwar for relief and rescue operations.

The Haridwar-New Delhi national highway has been closed for traffic at Roorkee area as landslides struck Roorkee-Haridwar road. The movement of nearly half a dozen trains on Dehra Dun- Haridwar route has been disrupted as debris from Mansadevi hills continued to fall on the railway track, Railways officials said.

The Yamuna is flowing above the danger level in Vikasnagar, prompting the authorities to issue a high alert in the area.

In Tehri, the reservoir level reached 831.05 meter and heavy discharge is being made from the 1000 MW hydel project.

The construction work of 400 MW Koteshwar dam has been stopped due to rise in the water level of Bhagirathi river, Tehri Hydro Development Corporation CMD R S T Sai said.

A high alert has been issued in low-lying areas in Tehri.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today made an aerial survey of parts of Uttarakhand hit by floods, landslides and cloudbursts and announced a relief of Rs one lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the natural calamity.

Nishank visited areas like Tehri, Haridwar, Nainital and Almora to asses the loss of lives and property.

At least 60 people have died and thousands others were rendered homeless due to incessant rains and floods during the past few days in the hill state.

Nishank said a total of 412 families in 25 villages have been affected in Tehri and Uttarkashi districts by the rising waters of Tehri dam. He said over 8000 people have been evacuated to safer areas due to floods in the state. He also demanded a package of Rs 5000 crore from the Centre to tackle the situation, an official statement said.

Nishank directed the officials to make arrangements for reopening of all roads which have been blocked due to landslides. According to an estimate, nearly 1200 roads have been damaged so far. He also directed the administration to provide all the essential commodities and said people should not suffer.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar said army helicopters would be pressed into service to drop food packets in the affected areas of the state by today.

Source:http://www.timesnow.tv/Total-devastation-in-Uttarakhand/articleshow/4354277.cms

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