Uttarakhand Braces for Heavy Rain: Orange Alert Issued for Two Districts
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an 'orange' alert for Uttarakhand's Nainital and Bageshwar districts, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall in some areas on Friday, July 28.
Meanwhile, traffic on the Badrinath National Highway and the Kedarnath pilgrimage route was briefly disrupted due to falling debris and stones from the hills, officials said.
The monsoon arrived in Uttarakhand on June 30 and became active across the entire state by Wednesday. According to the Dehradun-based Meteorological Centre, light to moderate rainfall was observed in various regions on Thursday.
Khanpur recorded 41.5 mm of rainfall, Laksar 33 mm, Roorkee 21 mm, Thalisain 19 mm, Ranikhet 18 mm, Champawat 15 mm, and Mussoorie 12.3 mm.
Over the past 24 hours, daytime maximum temperatures remained normal in the plains and below normal in the mountainous regions. Dehradun recorded a maximum temperature of 30.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, one degree above normal. Mukteshwar and New Tehri recorded maximum temperatures of 24.5 and 20.1 degrees Celsius, respectively—two and three degrees below normal.
The weather office has issued an 'orange' alert for Nainital and Bageshwar districts, warning of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in some areas on Friday. Additionally, a 'yellow' alert has been issued for heavy rainfall in parts of Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, and Chamoli districts.
In view of the forecast, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) has directed the concerned district magistrates to exercise necessary caution and ensure precautionary measures are in place. Officials stated that the Kedarnath pilgrimage route was blocked in the Munkatia area of Rudraprayag district due to rocks falling from the hillside, forcing a temporary suspension of vehicular and pedestrian movement.
Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said that the route was reopened and traffic restored after the debris and large boulders were cleared with the help of a JCB machine.
Similarly, in Chamoli district, the Badrinath National Highway was blocked near Gulabkoti village—located between Chamoli and Joshimath—due to a landslide amidst ongoing rainfall. Officials reported that the blockage led to long queues of vehicles on both sides, involving pilgrims travelling to and from Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, as well as local residents. However, officials added that traffic flow was normalised after a few hours once the debris was cleared using machinery from the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
