Extremely heavy rainfall in Pithoragarh district past Sunday midnight caused considerable damage with at least one persons reported to have died on Monday afternoon. While the dam of a hydro power project was damaged at Danibagad, debris from road cutting work on Madkot-Basantkot road entered about 14 homes in the area. Meanwhile, the meteorological department has forecast extremely heavy rainfall in Kumaon region on Tuesday especially at some places in Pithoragarh, Champawat, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Considering this, the chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh has issued an advisory to the District Magistrates concerned to remain alert.
Directions have also been issued to ensure that the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims are alert and coordinating with the district administration.
According to information provided by the meteorological centre, Munsyari in Pithoragarh had received 250 mm rainfall by Monday afternoon, while 136 mm had been received in Banbasa, 114 mm in Nainital, 112 in Haldwani, 54 mm in Dehradun (Jolly Grant) and 41 mm in Ramnagar.The department has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places likely to occur in Pithoragarh, Champawat, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts and isolated heavy rainfall likely to occur over remaining districts of Uttarakhand during next 24 hours from Monday. Meanwhile, on Monday, extremely heavy rain in Pithoragarh district caused considerable damage to infrastructure with some bridges being washed away or damaged, apart from some stretches of roads being damaged or washed away. The dam of the hydro power project of Uttarakhand Renewable Energey Development Authority (UREDA) at Seraghat was also damaged. During the afternoon, Gaila-Pattharkot resident Narayani Devi reportedly died after being hit by a heavy stone and falling in a gorge while walking home.
At least four rural roads in the district are blocked. In Uttarkashi district, while the Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway 108 was open till Gangotri, the Rishikesh-Yamunotri national highway 94 was blocked due to consistent landslide at Aujari Dabarkot. Nainital district also received considerable rainfall with at least eight rural roads reported to be blocked.