Alert was sent to Uttarakhand government: IMD

An alert was sent to the Uttarakhand government about the rainfall activity for 48 hours before the disastrous rains started around June 14, India Meteorological Department official N. Doraiswamy said Sunday.

Doraiswamy told Times Now: "We had sent an alert to the state government and even given the rainfall activity of 48 hours. After that what action has been taken, it is their responsibility."

"We are still giving a forecast for Uttarakhand and particularly for chardham yatra. So for the next seven days there would not be heavy rainfall," he said.

The IMD official based at Dehradun had also said Saturday that warnings of heavy rains and landslide were sent to the state government.

"We had issued warnings of heavy rains and even asked the government to postpone the chardham yatra by four days," said Anand Sharma, IMD director, Dehradun.

The rains that hit Uttarakhand over three days from June 14 caused flash floods and landslides, leading to hundreds of deaths, while around 3,000 people are still missing.