IIT Roorkee floodwaters turn campus into canal, students use makeshift boats to navigate: ‘Ocean engineering’ | Watch

IIT Roorkee is in the spotlight since floodwaters inundated the campus located in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand. The pioneer in structural and civil engineering institute became a centre of viral memes as jokes as students used make-shift boats to navigate through its lanes. The football and hockey ground were transformed into a swamp as students struggled to get around.

In the viral video shared by 2026 batch student named Sakshi on Instagram, a boy wearing blue colour shirt with number 11 and the print Deepak can be seen rowing the cardboard piece.

Despite the rains, students can be seen playing with a ball in the fields, embracing the monsoon rains.

Watch viral video of football and hockey fields transformed into lake

Interesting social media reactions poured in as the students turned floodwaters into a source of entertainment. While some called the situation rower's club, others dropped hilarious comments.

What did social media say?

A user wrote, “IIT Roorkee.... Engineers what a waste make some hover boats.”

Another user remarked, “Is ts what ppl do after passing jee mains and advance ?”

A third user stated, “Ocean engineering in iitr soon.”

A fourth comment read, “Water's surface tension being used at max.”

A fifth user remarked, “IIT Roorkee is a pioneer in structural & civil engineering yet its campus is flooded in this monsoon rain.”

Uttarakhand weather today

Overall Uttarakhand has been struggling with continues torrential downpour over the past few days. Heavy rains triggered landslides in several areas amid red alert of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). In the Rudraprayag region, authorities have announced the closure of schools.

The Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers are flowing close to the danger mark while the Rudraprayag district administration advised residents and pilgrims to avoid venturing near rivers and streams and to strictly follow weather advisories. Heavy precipitation also disrupted traffic movement on 107 routes across the state, PTI reported.

IMD's latest weather bulletin states, “Very heavy to extremely heavy rain likely to occur at isolated places in Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Champawat districts of Uttarakhand. Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and very intense to extremely intense spell of rain likely to occur at isolated places over Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Champawat districts of Uttarakhand.”

A flashflood warning has been isuued for Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Nanital, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garwal and Uttarkashi districts. Meanwhile, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri and Bageshwar districts are on red alert today.

The Alaknanda River is currently flowing at 623.153 metres, a few metres below its warning level of 626 metres and danger mark of 627 metres. The Mandakini River swelled to 622.230 metres, against a warning level of 625 metres and a danger level of 626 metres, according to official data. At Ganganagar, the Mandakini River's water level was recorded to be 799.200 metres, against the danger mark of 804 metres. At Gaurikund, the Mandakini recorded 1,974.820 metres, slightly below the danger mark of 1,976 metres.