Last evening’s squall that lashed through the hill-state of Uttarakhand was seen both as a blessing as it helped in putting off raging forest fires plaguing the forests for the past 15 weeks, but then, the squall also brought in its wake a bane to hill-folks who especially lived in the interiors of Garhwal.
Tehri and Pauri districts witnessed incessant rainfall which within hours washed away three animal shelters and turned lush-terrace farms into overflowing slush flowing into homes and shelter but fortunately there was no loss to life registered anywhere in the hill-state.
High wind, thunder, rain and hail swept through the hill-state bringing down temperatures, putting off the growing inferno which lapped up acres of green cover of Uttarakhand but also in its wake left behind landslides, road-blocks, overflowing canals and naals washing away animal shelters.
A few hours of heavy rainfall in the interiors of Garhwal region saw landslides and road-blocks riddling the hill-state bringing traffic on the roads to a stand-still for a few hours. Badri-kedar as well as Gangotri route along with Karnaprayag and Nainital highway, Chopta road were blocked due to minor landslips for a couple of hours. Uprooted trees and fallen electric poles plunged many areas in Dehradun District into darkness, abrupting traffic flow as well.
Director, State Met Department Vikram Singh had already sounded an alert for yesterday’s freak storm and today talking to Newspost he updated saying, “As compared to yesterday, the weather today shall remain clear, though the possibility of a storm is there, but it wont be as strong as yesterday. We might have inclement weather from 5-6 June onwards.“
The storm was seen as a welcome break for the plains of Uttarakhand which had been simmering with temperatures close to 41 degrees and rising. The temperature in the State Capital Dehradun fell 5 degrees within a few hours of rain and high winds, which will be the trend over the next few days.
