The traffic on Haridwar-Roorkee highway was disrupted following incessant rains for the past 36 hours and diverted through Kaliyar route in Bahadrabad. High alert has been sounded in the entire district especially low lying areas of laksar, Shyampur Kangri and surrounding villages by the district administration on account of rise in water level ganga canal. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land is submerged in water. Ganga canal has been closed following silt deposition. The situation is under control say the district officials.
life was thrown out of gear on Sunday with traffic snarls on highway, mud water in main bazaar of Haridwar and Jwalapur and heavy silt deposition on the streets of Moti bazaar. With heavy rainfall predicted in next 24 hours by meteorological department the district disaster management team is up on toes asking people to shift to dry places in schools around and making arrangements for exigencies.
District administration had issued alert in Hairdwar on Friday due to heavy rain in uphill areas of State as water level of Ganga had increased reaching near to the danger mark. low lying villages of laksar, Khanpur and Shyampur Kangri areas of the district have been placed on high alert. Dozens of villages have been inundated from the main city and water logging in majority of the areas has disrupted the movement of necessary materials and goods.
On Sunday, the ganga canal was closed on account of heavy silt which came down from the mountain ranges covering the riverbed. Speaking to The Pioneer, SDO upper Ganga canal Sushil Yadav said, “We have closed the ganga canal on Sunday morning at 6 am following the heavy deposition of silt and rising of Ganga river. The district administration has issued high alert in the low lying areas of the district and issued advice to the villagers for staying at safe places. The level of ganga reported at 12 noon is 293.20 metres just 0.8 metres below the danger level but the situation is under control. If the water level rises, the water shall be released slowly in the escape channels.”
While in Rishikesh, Ganga is flowing above the danger level. The seasonal rivers like Chandrabhaga, Saung and Peeli Nadi are running in full spate posing threat to the residential colonies located near to the rivers. The production work in Chilla power house in Haridwar had to be stopped on account of silt level in ganga water reaching 5,800 parts per million, told the general manager of poswer house Pankaj Agarwal.
Meanwhile Shyampur village is under threat of inundation as the ganga is flowing just 20 metres away from the village. The selling of seasonal rivulet Sota nala is also giving sleepless nights to the villagers. The former Up Pradhan of the village Pradeep Kumar told the Pioneer that villagers were having sleepless nights and any time their village could be submerged in waters. The embankments on the ganga river lining Shyampur Kangri are breaking giving way to the gushes of river waters.
The posh colonies of Haridwar like Shivalik Nagar and Model Colony also witnessed mud streams running on streets on Sunday. The roads became ponds and mud pools making people stranded to their homes. Some houses near Chandra charya chowk at Ranipur More and shops had water gushing into their boundaries.