Dehradun: The Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment, a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, on Sunday issued an orange alert for an avalanche at an altitude of over 3,000 metres in Uttarakhand's Chamoli and other four districts over the next 24 hours.
Five districts of the Himalayan state are under the ambit of an alert that will be effective for 24 hours from 5 pm Sunday to 5 pm. Monday. In addition to Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh, and Bageshwar districts have also been sounded a yellow alert.
Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority joint chief executive officer Mohammad Obaidullah Ansari wrote to the district magistrate of Chamoli. It drew his attention to the DGRE's orange alert (level 3) for the area.
Ansari asked him to take appropriate safety and precautionary measures given the alert. All officials concerned should be in alert mode, he said in a communication to the district magistrate. The areas above 2,500 metres in Chamoli district have witnessed heavy snowfall over the past few days, while the lower areas have received light to medium showers.
Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee media in-charge Harish Gaur said the sun rose after a gap of several days in Badrinath on Sunday but there is one and a half feet of snow frozen at the Himalayan temple. However, DGRE has also brought six places in Jammu and Kashmir under yellow alert. Areas with an altitude of more than 3,300 meters in Kargil in Ladakh have been put on yellow alert. In Himachal Pradesh, a yellow alert has been issued in the high altitude areas of Chamba, Lahaul Spiti, Kullu and Kinnaur.
