Heavy rains in Uttarakhand, four persons feared dead

Heavy rains on Friday lashed Uttarkashi and Ranikhet in Uttarakhand where four persons were feared dead after their jeep fell into the swollen Mandakini river. The jeep fell into the river and was swept away by its swirling waters when the victims were going to Chandrapuri in Rudraprayag district from Agastyamuni on Thursday evening, officials said on Friday.

Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway was closed at a number of places beyond Netala in Uttarkashi district due to debris falling over from the hills even as an electric pole fell due to heavy rains at Gufiyara leading to power breakdown at many places in the district, official sources said.

The road restoration work is being repeatedly affected by intermittent rains, they said. The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway is also blocked at many points between Joshimath and Ruadraprayag

Purola in Uttarkashi district received the maximum 88 mm of rains followed by Ranikhet which received 50 MM of showers, MeT department Director Anand Sharma said.

Similar weather with light to moderate rains at most places and more than moderate to heavy rains at isolated places has been predicted by the MeT department in the next 24 hours. Authorities in Rudraprayag said efforts are still on to trace Almora SDM Ajay Arora who slipped from a makeshift bridge and fell into the Mandakini last week while supervising clean-up operations at Kedarnath.