Monsoon update: Cloudburst causes floods in Uttarakhand, heavy rains kill 6 in Himachal
Monsoon update: The weather department on Thursday issued an orange alert in Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli and Nagpur districts of Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
Monsoon update: Floods are a common sight in several states across India in this monsoon season. While Uttarakhand's capital city Dehradun witnessed a cloudburst this morning, schools in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi and Kullu districts have been shut down due to incessant rainfall. Also, so far 6 people have been killed and about 15 are reported missing due to heavy rains. Odisha is also battered by floods, and more rain is expected to hit the state today, and the focus is now on several other rivers in the northern part of the state.
Here is a round-up on states struck heavily with continuous rains, floods, thunderstorms and waterlogging.
Cloudburst in Uttarakhand
A cloudburst occurred in Raipur block in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand in the early hours of Saturday. The cloudburst was reported by locals at 2.45 am on Saturday in Sarkhet village in Raipur block. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team rushed to the spot after getting information. Moreover, due to the continuous torrential rains since yesterday, the Tamasa river flowing near the famous Tapkeshwar Mahadev temple in Dehradun has also taken a formidable form. As per Acharya Bipin Joshi, there has been no loss of life reported.
Incessant rains drive school closure in Himachal's Mandi, Kullu
Schools in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi and Kullu districts will remain closed today due to ongoing incessant rains, a senior administration official said. In view of incessant rains in Mandi for the past two days and the weather forecast of heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours, it has been decided that all the government and private educational institutions except colleges and ITI in Mandi district shall remain closed on August 20, district deputy commissioner cum district magistrate Arindam Chaudhary said in an order issued on Friday evening.
Whereas, all schools including the Anganwadi Centres are ordered to be closed throughout the Kullu district in view of the incessant rains, said Ashutosh Garg, Kullu Deputy Commissioner. Also, a landslide took place in Dharamshala earlier today.
Flood-hit Odisha to get more rain, predicts IMD
The Odisha government, which is trying hard to tackle the flood in the Mahanadi river system, on Friday said its focus is now on several other rivers in the northern part of the state as the IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall. The authorities have started taking measures as the heavy rainfall may worsen the flood situation. An official said that a population of five lakh people in 13 districts are affected by the current deluge on Friday, while 2.6 lakh of them are marooned in 470 villages.
“As per the IMD forecast, there is a possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the (northern) districts of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, and Bhadrak from tonight. I humbly request you all not to get panicked over it and abide by the instructions of the administration,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.
Orange alert in several Maharashtra districts
The weather department on Thursday issued an orange alert in Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli and Nagpur districts of Vidarbha, warning of "very heavy rainfall" in some places for today and tomorrow. The Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, Nagpur, said rainfall activity was very likely to increase over Vidarbha on July 20-21.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in Vidarbha on today and very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places over Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli and Nagpur districts. Similarly, heavy rainfall is also likely at isolated places over Amravati, Chandrapur and Wardha districts.
Flash floods near Jammu's Vaishno Devi Shrine, 2 killed in house collapse
The yatra to the Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir was temporarily suspended on Friday evening following heavy rain, officials said. Chief Executive Officer of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Anshul Garg said the situation was under control and there was no report of any casualty or damage. Several videos shared on social media show flood-like situation on the Vaishno Devi track.
Also, at least two children were killed, as a mud house collapsed due to landslides in Samole village in Muttal area of the Udhampur district. Rescue teams after getting the information rushed to the spot and recovered the dead bodies from the debris of the collapsed house.