Uttarakhand schools get closed after IMD issued Red alert for Oct 18

Uttarakhand government has ordered schools closure in the Uttarkashi district after IMD issued Red alert for heavy rain on Oct 18.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a Red alert for heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand state on October 18. After which, the state government has ordered the closure of all schools in the Uttarkashi district as a precautionary step. 

IMD had also issued an Orange alert for October 17-19. 

District Magistrate Mayur Dikshit said, “All schools in the district to remain closed in Uttarkashi district on 18th October, in view of heavy rainfall warning.”

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inquired about the weather situation in the state and directed that state police, SDRF and other concerned personnel be kept on high alert at the sensitive places.

Most of the educational institutions will remain closed on Monday in Uttarakhand. The Chamoli district administration has banned mountaineering,  trekking, and camping activities in the Nanda Devi biosphere reserve and the entire forest area of Gopeshwar till October 19.

Met department had issued the heavy rain alert for all the 13 districts, following which the district administrations ordered the closure of educational institutions including colleges, Anganwadi centres and schools. Moreover, the district level Khel Mahakumbh events which were scheduled for October 18-19 have been cancelled and rescheduled for October 24 and 25.

“I appeal to the pilgrims not to take the pilgrimage in the next two days as the route is expected to witness extremely heavy rain, especially in the hilly areas. On Sunday morning, there were about 16,000 pilgrims at Kedarnath shrine. I spoke to the Rudraprayag district magistrate to quickly enable the pilgrims to offer their prayers and leave the shrine for their lodgings due to heavy rain,” said Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, as reported by Hindustan Times.

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