By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A man was drowned in the swollen Rispana river in Dehradun as heavy rains continued to lash parts of Uttarakhand with schools remaining closed in many areas.
The Chardham yatra was also being disrupted at number of places due to landslides. But top officials said the yatra was continuing despite heavy rains as workers were clearing debris from time to time.
The State Emergency Operations Center said a person drowned in the fast currents of Rispana following heavy rains in and around Dehradun on Wednesday night. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel reached the spot and conducted a search operation and recovered the body of Anil Kumar (42), a resident of Raipur area, at Vani Vihar.
During the last 24 hours, heavy to very heavy rains were recorded at many places in the state including Dehradun. 118 mm rainfall was recorded in Hathibarkala of Dehradun city, 106 mm in Karanpur and 130.2 mm in Mussoorie, 88 mm in Dunda of Uttarkashi district, 101 mm in Haldwani of Nainital district, 78 mm in Khatima of Udham Singh Nagar district, 88 in Bangapani of Pithoragarh district, 96 mm in Ranikhet of Almora district, 124 mm in Kapkot of Bageshwar district and 136 mm in Tanakpur of Champawat district.
The water level of Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries was rising menacingly. Rains also unleashed landslides blocking 179 small and big roads across the state including two national highways and eight state highways.
In Uttarkashi district, Rishikesh-Yamunotri National Highway is still blocked for traffic since the landslides occurred at Ojri area on June 29. In Pithoragarh district, Tawaghat-Lipulekh National Highway is blocked due to debris between Bundi and Gunji.
On the other hand, in view of the heavy rain warning issued by the Meteorological Department, educational institutions up to class 12 remained closed in Dehradun and some other areas on Thursday.