Rain-related incidents leave two dead in UP, one in Bihar; Delhi receives heaviest downpour this season

Heavy rain lashed several states on Thursday, with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar recording deaths due to the downpour. Meanwhile, Delhi received the heaviest spell of rainfall this season. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall across the country over the next two to three days. In Uttar Pradesh, two members of a family were killed and two others were seriously injured when a wall of their house collapsed due to heavy rain. In Madhya Pradesh, the weather office issued an ‘orange alert’ of very heavy rainfall in eight districts till Friday morning. In the next few days, fairly widespread rainfall is likely over major parts of north India — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan — during the next two days and decrease thereafter, the IMD said on Thursday. Several parts of western India are also expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall. This includes Gujarat, Goa, Konkan, the ghat areas of central Maharashtra, and parts of central India during next four-five days. “Isolated extremely heavy falls are also likely over Gujarat state during next two-three days and over ghat areas of central Maharashtra during next 24 hours,” it said, adding fairly widespread rainfall with heavy to very heavy falls are likely over Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the next two to three days. Heavy rain disrupts traffic in Delhi Heavy rainfall flooded low-lying areas and threw traffic out of gear in the National Capital on Thursday. According to the IMD, the Ayanagar weather station recorded 106.9 millimetres rainfall, the maximum in the city, since Wednesday morning. The Palam and Ridge weather stations gauged 99.9 millimetres and 98.2 millimetres precipitation respectively during the period. The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 83.8 millimetres rainfall. Vehicles moved bumper to bumper during the morning rush hours, as the downpour led to heavy waterlogging at key road stretches. A monsoon report shared by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation said waterlogging took place at 41 locations. Besides, parts of buildings collapsed at eight places and trees fell at seven locations, it said. Three workers of the NDMC were trapped under debris at the Bhalaswa landfill after a part of it slid down due to heavy rains. All three were rescued and rushed to a hospital, PTI reported. In Uttarakhand’s Chamoli, Pitoragarh, and Dehradun, heavy rain disrupted the normal life on Thursday. The state has seen frequent landslides this monsoon season. In Pithoragarh’s Dharchula, several roads were closed for eight hours due to landslides amid rain. Anil Kumar Shukla, the district’s sub divisional magistrate, was quoted by ANI as saying that said that 12-14 affected families were evacuated. The IMD has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall, and moderate to severe thunderstorm accompanied by lightning at isolated places over the state in the next two days. In Chamoli, intermittent rains have endangered people’s lives as the Badrinath highway has been closed due to debris falling from the mountains. Alaknanda, Pinder, Nandakini rivers are flowing only some centimetres below the danger mark due to incessant rainfall in the district. “On roads which are closed due to landslide, the work is on to clear the debris and reopen the roads. Electricity poles have uprooted and they are being fixed. Orders have been passed to deploy NDRF and SDRF teams in several tehsils of the district,” Chamoli district magistrate Swati S Bhadoria told ANI. Mumbai, Thane, Palghar districts receive heavy rain In Maharashtra, heavy rains lashed isolated parts of Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts since Wednesday. The weather office predicted more showers in the Konkan region and some areas in the central part of the state over the next one day. According to the IMD, the Dahanu weather station in coastal Palghar reported 90.1 millimetres rainfall, while the Thane Belapur Industries Association observatory recorded 57.2 millimetres rain. The Santacruz weather bureau, representative of Mumbai’s suburbs, recorded 42 millimetres downpour, while the Colaba observatory in south Mumbai reported 17.8 millimetres rainfall. Water is being released from the Khadakwasla reservoir in Pune following a good spell of rains in the catchment areas, PTI reported. IMD issues ‘orange alert’ for 8 MP districts, Bihar registers flood-related death The IMD has issued an ‘orange alert’ of very heavy rainfall in eight districts of Madhya Pradesh till Friday morning. Some isolated places in Chhindwara, Balaghat, Betul, Harda, Khandwa, Alirajpur, Jhabua and Dhar districts are likely to receive very heavy rainfall till Friday morning, it said. Besides, there is a ‘yellow warning’ of heavy rainfall in 15 more districts. In Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said his government will ensure rehabilitation of the families of those who died in the landslide in Idukki district. The death toll in the landslip stands at 55. Rescue operations are underway and a search is on for 15 more missing people, PTI reported. A flood-related death was reported in Bihar’s Darbhanga district, taking the toll in the state to 25. The number of people hit by the floods stands at 77.77 lakh. Sixteen districts in the state are affected by the deluge, though inundation by overflowing rivers with origins in Nepal appeared to have slowed down. In Assam, the flood situation improved, with the water receding from Morigaon district, though 11,262 people in 40 villages of Dhemaji and Baksa districts are still affected, an official bulletin said. The death toll due to flood and landslides in the state stands at 136. The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Nimatighat in Jorhat district, while its tributaries Jia Bharali and Beki are flowing above the red marks at two places. There was light to moderate rain and thundershowers at most places in Uttar Pradesh, with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated areas in the eastern part. The Lucknow weather office said heavy rain occurred at isolated places in the western part of Uttar Pradesh, and thunderstorm accompanied with lightning was reported from some areas in the state. Heavy rains lashed most parts of Haryana and Punjab, leading to a drop in maximum temperatures in the region. In Haryana, heavy rains led to waterlogging in some low-lying areas, including in Sonipat and Ambala districts. Rains also lashed Panchkula, Gurgaon, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panipat and Karnal. In Punjab, Patiala, Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Mohali were among the places that saw rainfall. In Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, heavy rains caused power breakdowns in some areas. With inputs from agencies