Heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand leads to rise in river water levels; SDRF teams on high alert

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], July 19 (ANI): Incessant rainfall in the hilly and plain areas in Uttarakhand for the past nine days has resulted in an increase in water levels of the rivers and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been told to remain on high alert, authorities said on Wednesday.

As per SDRF officials, nine days of constant rain in Uttarakhand’s hilly and plain regions caused the rivers’ water levels to rise, subsequently, the SDRF personnel have been instructed to maintain a high degree of alertness.
“River Ganga is once again in spate as a result of constant rain that has been falling in the plains and hills of all of Uttarakhand for the past nine days, increasing the risk of flooding in the nearby areas. With the unexpected increase in the water level of river Ganga, there is a danger of flood in the coastal areas of Mayakund, Chandrabhaga, Chandreshwarnagar etc,” said officials.

SDRF Commandant, Manikant Mishra, instructed various SDRF teams to be on high alert amid these circumstances. In view of the possible danger posed by the rising water level of the river Ganga, SDRF officers and jawans have been asked to be on constant alert.

Due to heavy rains in the mountains, the tributaries of Alaknanda and Ganga are in a spate. The Emergency Operation Center has alerted 4 districts on the possibility of the rising water level of the Alaknanda River to avoid any untoward incident, they said.

Officials further said that SDRF Commandant Manikant Mishra himself is closely monitoring the situation by being in constant touch with the SDRF teams and also directing the SDRF control room for a quick exchange of information.

SDRF personnel are fully equipped with rescue equipment at sensitive places to deal with the threat of flood. SDRF jawans are continuously monitoring the coastal areas of Ganga, added officials.

Earlier, Uttarakhand SDRF continuously worked in the Haridwar district for the rescue of people stranded in submerged houses in flooded areas of Haridwar and rescued a pregnant woman and a small girl from Laksar town in Uttarakhand.

In Laksar of Haridwar district, SDRF reached the spot after receiving information about the health of a small girl in a house submerged due to waterlogging and rescued the girl and took her to the hospital.

As per information, SDRF Uttarakhand Police immediately reached the spot on the information of a pregnant woman having labour pain in a house submerged due to waterlogging in Laksar police station, Adarsh ​​Nagar of district Haridwar. The pregnant woman was brought to a safe place by raft with full caution.

After that, she was also taken to the hospital by ambulance.SDRF Uttarakhand Police reached the house after covering a distance of about five kilometres through rafts on the information of some people being trapped in a waterlogged house in Girdhawali Kalsia village under the Khanpur area in district Haridwar.

The SDRF spokesperson said that there were no other houses around the house for several kilometres and two elderly couples inside the house were very distressed. They were roused by the SDRF and rescued and taken to a safe place through rafts.

Apart from this, other people trapped there were also rescued and taken to a safe place through rafts.

Persistent rainfall and a breach in the Sonali River dam have raised a threat of floods in the Laksar town of Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district. According to officials, the Sonali River dam breached near the village of Kuan Kheda.