BAREILLY: The National Highway-24 connecting Delhi and Lucknow was partly submerged following incessant rains in Uttarakhand over the past few days, resulting in gridlocks with scores of buses and trucks stranded in parts of western Uttar Pradesh for hours on Wednesday.
Heavy police force was deployed on the highway near Moradabad which ensured the restoration of traffic movement in the evening. Water from the Kosi and Ramganga rivers, which are in spate, flooded the highway, police said.
The water levels of Kosi, about 500m away from the waterlogging stretch, and the Ramganga in Moradabad, also touched their maximum capacity and started overflowing. This caused a few stretches of the NH-24 to go under water.
A long queue of vehicles including roadways buses, private tourist buses and goods trucks among others, were stuck in jams, causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters.
“We were returning from our workplace in Moradabad when we found that a part of the NH-24 has been completely submerged,” said Mohit Kumar, a truck driver.
Shakir Ali, a commuter stuck in a bus, added, “We had been waiting for several hours since morning for water levels to recede.” Local police on duty said the water had started reaching the highway on Tuesday night itself. “The movement of light vehicles was stopped due to severe waterlogging in certain stretches of the highway. Only heavy vehicles were allowed to pass through,” said a police personnel stationed at a checkpost on NH-24.
Moradabad district magistrate (DM) Shailendra Kumar Singh meanwhile claimed that the situation was brought completely under control by the evening. Residents of Rampur district, too, had a tough time on Wednesday as they had to wade through waterlogged streets. Roads in the suburban areas and upscale localities, including Gandhi Samadhi and its adjacent places, were most affected.
The Rampur district administration has been put on high alert while a NDRF team has been deputed in the district for rescue operations.
