Record Rains Cause Large-Scale Disruption, Floods In North India

NEW DELHI: Major cities in north India witnessed loss of life and property, disruption in transport and power as heavy rainfall lashed parts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh, on Sunday, leading to waterlogging, flash floods, and landslides. Twenty major landslides and 17 flash floods in Himachal Pradesh have been reported in the past 48 hours over 30 houses have been completely and partially damaged. All major rivers including Ravi, Beas, Satluj, Swan and Chenab are in spate, officials said. Devastating visuals showing shops, and vehicles being swept away in Himachal Pradesh due to overflown river, triggered by incessant rains, surfaced on social media.

Vehicles were washed away in flash floods at Nullah in Kullu, Kinnaur and Chamba. Several bridges, including the Aut bridge, Pandoh bridge and historical Panchvaktra bridge were swept away by the overflowing Beas river in the Mandi district. Taking note of the incident, former state Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said that the washed-away bridges were the "identity of Himachal". Earlier in the day, three persons of a family were killed while two others were injured after their house collapsed due to heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla on Sunday, the police said.

Officials said that the incident took place in Kotgarh village of Shimla on Sunday morning. The victims were taken out of the debris after a rescue operation and rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared them brought dead. "The deceased have been identified as Anil, Kiran, and Swapnil, and their bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination. We are further looking into the incident," Shimla Superintendent of Police, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said. As per data available with the state Disaster Management, over 776 roads including 3 national highways in the hill state are closed.

"A total of six people died during the past 24 hours, 3 are missing, while 281 people are stranded in different locations but safe," the data read. According to the state government, so far in 16 days, 54 people have died, 92 injured, 46 houses damaged, and 108 houses partially damaged in the state. Notably, light to moderate rainfall occurred at most places over the state and extremely heavy rainfall in the district of Una, Bilaspur during the last 24 hours.

All schools and colleges would also remain closed in view of heavy rainfall in the state on Monday and Tuesday. Moreover, due to continuous heavy rainfall and inclement weather conditions train services on the Shimla-Kalka route were also suspended on Sunday. Station Superintendent, of Shimla Railway Station, Joginder Singh told ANI that landslides caused by heavy downpours have damaged railway tracks at multiple locations between Shimla and Kalka, leading to the suspension of train operations.

"Yesterday, two trains, including a passenger train, were cancelled for today. In the morning we learned that the weather forecast is very bad, like the past few days, and yesterday too it rained overnight, causing landslides at many places between Kalka-Shimla routes, and uprooting trees. So we decided to suspend all train services on the Shimla-Kalka route," the official said.

According to Meteorological Centre, Shimla, moderate to heavy rainfall with thunder at most places and very heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely to continue in the districts of Shimla, Solan, Kinnaur, Sirmaur, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), isolated extremely heavy rainfall is also very likely in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and adjoining districts of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh on Sunday.

Besides, in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir, unprecedented damage was caused to National Highway 44, especially to the stretch falling in Ramban district, forcing its closure for traffic. A shed, set up as langar (community kitchen) for Amarnath pilgrims, was also washed away by the overflowing Chenab River in Ramban yesterday.

Meanwhile, heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir led to a rise in the water level of River Jhelum, triggering panic among locals living on the banks and other adjoining areas. Srinagar Meteorological Centre had on Saturday predicted flash floods, landslides and mudslides for the next two days. The Weather Department has also advised the local people to avoid vulnerable structures and areas prone to waterlogging.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said moderate rains are likely to occur in various parts of Haryana in the next two to three hrs. "Moderate rain is very likely over parts of Gharaunda, Karnal, Indri, Radaur, Panipat, Nilokheri, Thanesar, Pehowa, Shahabad, Ambala, Kalka, Barara, Jagadhri, Chhachhrauli, Narayangarh, Panchkula," the IMD said in a bulletin. "Also, rains are very likely to occur in over parts of Bhiwani, Tosham, Sampla, Rohtak, Bawani Khera, Hansi, Hisar, Adampur, Narnaund, Fatehabad, Kharkhoda, Sonipat, Ganaur, Samalkha, Bapouli, Gharaunda, Karnal, Meham, Gohana, Julana, Israna, Safidon, Jind, Panipat, Asandh, Kaithal, Nilokheri, Narwana, Tohana, Kalayat, Ratia, Thanesar, Guhla, Pehowa, Ambala," it added.

In the national capital, Shahdara district police on Sunday visited the Yamuna floodplains and alerted the residents about the rising water level. The police also urged local residents to shift to a safer place amid the rising levels of the Yamuna. "We are here to inform you all that the level of Yamuna has risen due to heavy rainfall. You all requested to vacate the area and move to a safer place," a police officer told residents living by the Yamuna banks. Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Sunday issued a flood warning amid heavy rains in North India, as the Haryana government released more than one lakh cusecs of water into the Yamuna River from the HathniKund Barrage in Yamunanagar.  Record rainfall over the last couple of days has taken a heavy toll of the national capital, with as many as 15 house collapse incidents leaving 2 dead and 7 injured, an official informed on Sunday. Speaking to ANI on Sunday, the director of Delhi Fire Service, Atul Garg, confirmed receiving as many as 15 calls pertain to house collapse incidents over the last couple of days. He informed further that in several of these incidents, the firefighters ran into trouble reaching the spot on account of heavy and extensive waterlogging.

Persistent and heavy rainfall on Sunday morning led to extensive waterlogging in Rajasthan's Sikar, disrupting normal life. Unrelenting showers since Saturday morning left vast swathes of Morabadad city under water, with several residents complaining of commuting woes. Amid heavy rainfall on Saturday evening, a student died after he fell into an open sewerage tank near Nawalgarh Road in the Sikar district, an official from the Civil Defence Team (CD) said. After receiving word of the incident, a Civil Defence Rescue team reached the spot and recovered the student's body, he said.

Derabassi assembly constituency of Mohali district witnessed waterlogging due to incessant rains for the last two days. A flood-like situation was seen in Derabassi as the areas along the Ghaggar River were flooded. In Derabassi's Gulmohar City Extension, 12 to 15 feet of water were inundated, after which people living in the buildings were trapped after which the NDRF team reached for the rescue. DC Mohali, MLA Kuljit Randhawa, and the NDRF team also reached the spot.

Earlier yesterday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and took updates about Amarnath Yatra which was suspended due to heavy rains. Shah spoke to Sinha in a telephonic conversation earlier in the day as the annual Amarnath Yatra remained suspended temporarily on both routes -- Baltal (Ganderbal district) and Nunwan (Pahalgam district) -- due to inclement weather conditions that triggered multiple landslides along the 270km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district two days ago.