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India reels under monsoon fury, rain alerts in multiple states
Alerts for rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds are placed across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarat.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain over six districts across Himachal Pradesh and two districts in Punjab today with a warning of thunderstorm and lightning accompanied by squalls, as northern India continues to witness monsoon fury.
Una, Hamirpur, Mandi, Bilaaspur, Shimla and Sirgaon in Himachal Pradesh and Gurdaspur and Pathankot in Punjab are placed under a yellow alert for today.
IMD also stated that there would be significant reduction in rainfall activity likely over Jammu and Kashmir from today, with a forecast of isolated heavy rainfall spell over northwestern India during next 6 to 7 days.
There has also been a forecast of heavy rain over western Rajasthan during August 29 to August 31, and over Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh during September 1 and September 2.
Overcast skies, with gusty winds are predicted over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad during next 7 days. The death toll due to rain-related disasters in the state mounted to 41 today, reported PTI.
Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have been experiencing incessant rainfall since the last three days, leaving several key highways blocked and pushing the death toll due to rain-related accidents in Himachal Pradesh to over 300, HT reported earlier.
Rain ruckus in north India
Amid heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh, Kullu district stands cut off with the Chandigarh-Manali national highway damaged and closed for traffic. The stretch of highway from Pandoh to Aut stood blocked due to landslides in Mandi district, with hundreds of cargo vehicles stranded on the highway while the raging Beas river wreaked havoc, ANI reported.
The historic Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, adjoining the Ravi in Pakistan’s Narowal district was submerged in floodwater on Wednesday morning after heavy rain in the region forced the authorities to release excessive water from the Ranjit Sagar Dam in Pathankot district.
This is the first time that the Ravi river has inundated the gurdwara, situated 4km from the India-Pakistan border, since the Kartarpur Corridor was opened in 2019.
The Chandigarh-Manali highway was also closed due to a landslide in Banala, with a portion of the highway being washed away as the Beas River flowed in spate.
Although Mandi and Kullu saw a brief respite on Wednesday morning with clear skies, IMD kept a persistent warning in place for the two districts due to rising water levels and landslide-prone roads.
The national capital remains dry with clear skies and no warning for rain issued by the regional Met department.
Maharashtra on yellow, orange alerts for heavy rain
IMD has issued a yellow alert for today over Mumbai Suburban, Mumbai City, Nandurbar, Dhule, Nashik, Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Pune, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Solapur, Osmanabad, Beed, Latur, Nanded, Parbhani, Hingoli, Jalna, Jalgaon, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Akola, Washim, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondia and Gadchiroli.
Light to moderate rain, with overcast skies, thunderstorms and strong winds are predicted over these districts.
An orange alert for very heavy rain has been kept in place for Ratnagiri and Satara.
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat on yellow alert
A yellow alert has been issued today across all districts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat by the states' regional Met centres.
In Ujjain, due to the rising water level of the Shipra River after continuous rainfall in the state, temples located near Ram Ghat have been submerged, reported ANI.
Heavy rain accompanied by cloudy skies, thunderstorm and lightning is predicted across the districts of the two states till September 2.
Downpour to pummel southern India
All the districts across Tamil Nadu except Perambalur, Ariyalur, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari, have been put under a yellow alert as heavy rain with thunderstorms, lightning and strong winds would brace the state over the next few days.
Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikode and Wayanad in Kerala have been placed under orange alert for very heavy rain and squall while a yellow alert for moderate rainfall is issued in the rest of the state.
In Karnataka, Dakshin Kannada and Udupi have been put on a red alert as the two districts would be seeing extremely heavy rain with lightning and thunderstorms today. An orange alert has been placed for Uttar Kannada while the rest of the state stands on a yellow alert.
In Telengana, Nirmal, Nizambad, Kamareddy and Jagtial have also been put under a red alert. Adilabad, Kumaram Bheem, Mancherial, J Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Peddapalle, Karimnagar, Rajanna Sircilla, Siddipet, Medak, Sangareddy, Vikarabad, Y Bhuvanagiri, Jangaon, Warangal, and Mahabubabad have been placed on an orange alert while the rest of the state including Hyderabad is on a yellow alert.
An orange alert has been issued for very heavy rainfall over Eluru, NTR, Palnadu, Guntur, and Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh. The rest of the state is on a yellow alert today for heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and gusty winds.
