Rain system in Uttarakhand starts weakening

In some relief to the rain-battered Uttarakhand, the system that had created heavy rains in the hill state during the past few days has finally started weakening.

"Uttarakhand will now get rains only in very few areas," said Met Director Anand Sharma, a day after the rains wreaked havoc in the state where over 60 people were killed and thousands others rendered homeless due to floods, cloudbursts and landslides triggered by heavy rains during past few days.

The rains have also flooded most of the major rivers with the Ganga and Yamuna flowing 2 to 3 mt above the danger level.

According to Pauri district magistrate Dilip Jawalkar, more than 500 main and link roads in the district have been damaged by rains.

Houses on the banks of river Alaknanda, which has reached 536 mt, have been vacated, he said.

Monsoon rains also broke all time 44-year-old record in Dehradun yesterday by registering a 3000 mm of rainfall yesterday.

In Tehri, where the reservoir level crossed the danger 830 mt level, it has started receding as the water was being flown for the first time from the spillway of the 1000-Mw hydel project.

However, CMD of Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDC) R S T Sai said the dam is safe and 850 cumax of water is being released from the reservoir.

Sai also said the construction work of 400 Mw Koteshwar dam has also been stopped due to the rise in water level of Bhagirathi river.

Tehri district magistrate Radhika Jha said she had held meetings with top officials of the THDC and a high alert had already been issued for low lying areas near the dam.

After release of water from Tehri, the Ganga was flowing two to three mt above the danger level inundating scores of villages in Haridwar.

Chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank also took an aerial survey of the flood and disaster affected areas of the state.

Meanwhile, all schools today remained closed in the state.

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