Dehradun News: The Uttarakhand government has suspended the Char Dham Yatra and Hemkund Sahib Yatra till September 5 in view of red and orange alerts issued by the Meteorological Department, officials said on Sunday.
Vinay Shankar Pandey, Secretary to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Commissioner of Garhwal Division, said the decision was taken as a precautionary measure with extremely heavy rainfall forecast for the coming days.
The Met department has issued a red alert for Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri and Haridwar on Monday, warning of extremely heavy to very heavy rain. For September 2, an orange alert has been sounded for Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Bageshwar.
Amid the warnings, schools have been closed in several districts, including Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri and Champawat.
CM Holds Emergency Review
At a high-level meeting, CM Dhami said the next few days would be “challenging” and directed officials to remain on round-the-clock alert. He asked State Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman to monitor the situation from the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) and instructed divisional commissioners to expedite rehabilitation work in disaster-hit areas.Dhami also ordered strict monitoring of river water levels, including at night, citing the risk of landslides and waterlogging.
Two Dead in Tehri Landslide Incident
Meanwhile, two people, including a woman, died in Tehri district on Sunday after being hit by stones triggered by heavy rainfall. The victims, identified as Ankit Jain (25) of Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajni Rawat of Kotdwar, Pauri, were travelling on a two-wheeler on the Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway near Narendranagar when the accident occurred, police said.
