Floods in North India: 22 dead in Himachal Pradesh, eight missing in Uttarakhand; flood alert in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab

New Delhi: Heavy rains lashed northern parts of the country, leaving at least 22 people dead in Himachal Pradesh and eight missing after a cloudburst in Uttarakhand, while a flood alert was sounded in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab as the Yamuna and other rivers were in spate. In view of heavy discharge being released in the rivers in Haryana, the state’s revenue and disaster management department has requested to direct the concerned army officials to be on stand by. In southern India, the death toll in flood-ravaged Kerala climbed to 116 with the retrieval of more bodies. Ground Penetrating Radars were put into use to locate bodies at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad, where massive landslides had wiped out two villages. Delhi witnessed rains with the maximum temperature settling at 29.7 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season’s average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 24.8 degrees, two notches below the season’s average. [caption id=“attachment_7183221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Pawar river was in spate following a cloud burst in Uttarakashi district of Uttarakhand. PTI[/caption] An official said the Yamuna river was flowing at 203.37 meters on Sunday evening and its water level is expected to rise further in next 24 hours after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in Harayana at 5 pm.As the water level in the Yamuna river neared warning level, the Delhi government sounded a flood alert for the city and asked people in the low-lying areas to vacate their houses. In Uttarakhand, at least eight people were missing and several others injured in heavy rains at various places, state emergency operations centre (SEOC) said. Cloudbursts in Mori block of Uttarkashi district wreaked havoc in several villages, damaging several houses in Arakot, Makuri and Tikochi villages. A woman was also washed away in Dehradun district when her car fell into a seasonal river, they said. Heavy rains remained unabated in Himachal Pradesh, leaving at least 22 people, including two Nepalese, dead and nine others injured in rain-related incidents in the state. Nine people died in Shimla, five in Solan, two each in Kullu, Sirmaur, Solan and Chamba and one each in Una and Lahaul-Spiti districts. Landslides hit a spot near the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Shimla,leaving three people dead. One person sustained injuries in the incident. Due to heavy rains, district officials in the state have ordered closure of all educational institutions in Shimla and Kullu on Monday. Gates of the Pandoh and the Nathpa Jhakri dams in Himachal Pradesh are being opened as the water level in the Beas and Sutlej rivers is very high. People have been requested to stay away from rivers, rivulets and streams to avoid any untoward incident, officials said. Train services between Shimla and Kalka were disrupted on Sunday after multiple landslides blocked the rail route in the state. Heavy rains remained unabated in Haryana and Punjab on Sunday causing floods in some parts, while authorities sounded high alert in the two states. In the Yamuna river, water level rose dangerously at the Hathni Kund barrage in Yamuna Nagar. Following heavy rains in Aol village of Punjab, three members of a family were killed when the roof of their house collapsed.  Eleven people, including four women, have been rescued after they got stuck when the overflowing water of Beas river flooded their village in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district. In Rajasthan, water has started receding and there was no flood-like situation anywhere in the state. An official said forty-nine people have died in rain-related incidents in the state since 15 June  and 500 people have been evacuated from the rain-affected areas. In West Bengal, weather in large parts of south Bengal, including Kolkata, improved after two days of torrential rain that led to water-logging in many areas and snapped road links at several places. Rains lashed several parts of Chennai and its neighbourhood with the MeT office predicting more showers during the next two days.