Uttarakhand Governor meets PM Narendra Modi amid heavy rainfall situation in the state

On Monday, Uttarakhand Governor Lt General Gurmit Singh (Retd) visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid heavy rainfall and landslides in the state. 

Earlier today, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami received thorough information from officials concerned about the state's severe rainfall situation. He has been surveying the situation from the state secretariat's disaster control room. "I am continuously taking stock of the rain falling in different areas of the state. Taking information about the rain situation in the districts from all the district magistrates over the phone, instructions have been given to provide every hourly report of the rain and traffic situation in the district," the Chief Minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

IMD issues red alert for Uttarakhand

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Uttarakhand on Monday, predicting heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the state. "Heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls quite likely at isolated locations over Uttarakhand and West Uttar Pradesh," the IMD warned in its daily meteorological advisory on Monday morning.

The Badrinath Yatra has been suspended as a precautionary measure, and travellers en route Badrinath have been held in secure locations. In a tweet yesterday, the IMD stated that thunderstorms and heavy rainfall will be expected in Uttarakhand and other states as a result of westerly disturbances interacting with low-level easterlies.

"Thunderstorm and heavy rainfall activity over Uttarakhand, West UP and Haryana on 17th and 18th as a result of WD interaction with low-level easterlies. Cloud drifting towards West UP and southeast Haryana from the low-pressure area over Telangana begins from today afternoon," it said.

Heavy rains in Uttarakhand

As per the latest development, three Nepalese labourers died and two others were injured as heavy rains lashed Uttarakhand for the second day in a row on Monday, prompting authorities to caution Chardham visitors not to visit the Himalayan temples until the weather improves. The workers were living in a tent near Lansdowne in Pauri district when rubble from a field above buried them alive, according to District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Jogdande. They had been working on a hotel construction project in the region. According to him, the injured were taken to the Kotdwar base hospital.

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image: PTI/@PMOIndia/Twitter)