Rain wreaks havoc in Kumaon
Life in Kumaon has been disrupted due to the rains for the last five days. There is flood & waterlogging situation in Khatima, Sitarganj and surrounding villages of Udham Singh Nagar. SDRF and Jal Police rescued about a thousand people. Two people have died due to drowning in the waterlogging and flowing in the river, while three are missing, while a 13-year-old girl was swept away in Devipura village of Banbasa.
On Monday evening, there was relief due to the weather clearing up and sunshine, but the rivers and streams are in spate. 325 routes in the state including 134 roads of Kumaon are still closed. More than 550 villages in Kumaon have been isolated. Debris is falling on Pithoragarh-Dharchula-Tawaghat NH. The hanging bridge has been washed away due to the rising water of Kwairaala river in Belkhet of Palbilon area of Champawat.
Here, rainwater has entered people’s houses in the Terai. According to the Udham Singh Nagar administration, more than 300 families have been affected in Sitaraganj, Khatima and Nanakmatta. More than 1500 people have been displaced from the affected area and kept in schools.
Record rains in July first week
After the monsoon reached Uttarakhand on June 27, record rainfall has been recorded in early July. In the first week itself, the state has received about three times more rainfall than normal, while Kumaon received heavy to very heavy rainfall and a 34-year-old record of rainfall was broken in a single day.
More than 200 mm of rainfall was recorded in most areas of Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat and Nainital on Sunday. Apart from this, Bageshwar and Almora have also received several times more rainfall than normal.
More than 400 mm rainfall in a single day
From Sunday morning to Monday morning, 200 to 400 mm rainfall was recorded in some areas of Kumaon within 24 hours, which is an all-time record of rainfall in a day in July. Banbasa in Champawat district received 418 mm rainfall, Champawat 224 mm, Lohaghat 187 mm rainfall.
Chorgalliya in Nainital district received 312 mm rainfall, Haldwani 204 mm, Kathgodam 189 mm, Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district 278 mm, Pantnagar 202 mm, Gadarpur 184 mm, Kashipur 148 mm rainfall. Pithoragarh also recorded 119 mm rainfall. Earlier, the highest rainfall in a day in July anywhere in the state was in 1990.
