A bus carrying passengers from Nepal to Dehradun got stuck in a swollen Kotwali river in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand on Friday due to the heavy rainfall. According to reports, the water level of the river, which flows on the border of Haridwar and Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, increased suddenly and the bus was stranded.
The vehicle carrying nearly 53 passengers was coming from Ruperia, Nepal, and it was heading to Dehradun.
After the information about the bus was received, police officials from Shyampur Police Station of Haridwar reached the spot for rescue operation. Later the authorities informed that they have successfully rescued the bus and saved the lives of all 53 passengers in it, ANI reported.
Due to the heavy rain in Haridwar district since late Thursday night, waterlogging and disruption in traffic have been seen in many different places in the city. After the continuous rainfall in the district, waterlogging has been seen in many parts of Haridwar, including Ranipur, Jwalapur Market and Moti Bazaar.
India Meteorological Department has issued an "orange" alert in the state and warned to be prepared for heavy rainfall from September 15 to 17 along with the isolated heavy downpours of 64.5 mm to 115.6 mm.
The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a "yellow" alert for all the districts of the state till September 18.
Director of Dehradun Meteorological Centre, Dr Vikram Singh, said that there is a possibility of heavy rainfall in Dehradun, Nainital, Champawat, Chamoli and Bageshwar districts of Uttarakhand in the coming days. Additionally, the district magistrates of the respective regions have activated the disaster control rooms and instructed the officials to be on alert mode.
Apart from that, due to the heavy rainfall in the state for the last few days, several major roads in Uttarakhand have been closed as incidents of landslides are being reported frequently. Heavy rain has caused major inconvenience for the tourists stuck in isolated places.
(Edited by : Anushka Sharma)
