Rain news highlights: Mumbai to witness moderate rainfall in next few days

Himachal chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday said he will soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi to apprise them of the losses suffered by Himachal Pradesh due to heavy rains, PTI reported.

“A central team visited the affected areas in the hill state to assess the damage and will submit its report,” the chief minister said.

Residents of Thane and its suburbs will have to face water cuts, once every 14 days, till the end of monsoon season following technical issues at the water supply source, officials informed on Sunday.

In a heartwarming moment, Andhra Pradesh police attended to a street dog's mute cries for help at Ithavaram village in NTR district to rescue its puppies stranded in an abandoned house amid floods.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted moderate rainfall over Mumbai for the next few days. This comes as the commercial capital of India is battering intense rainfall from past few days.

Light to moderate rainfall occurred in several parts of Rajasthan during the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Sunday.

In Sikar, Dantaramgarh recorded the highest rainfall of 17 cm, followed by 10 cm in Nawalgarh.

Some of the places also received heavy to very heavy rains, it said.

Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur on Sunday visited the rain and flood-hit areas of Shimla district in the hill state.

The Himachal Pradesh Minister visited the rural Kotkhai, Jubbal, and Rohru parts of the flood-afflicted district, that are also the heart of Shimla's apple production.

The monsoon has so far claimed 187 lives since its onset on June 24 in Himachal Pradesh, the State Disaster Management Authority said on Saturday.

If paddy re-transplantation not possible after extensive damage to the crop due to recent floods, farmers must grow alternative crops such as maize, pearl millet, vegetables, and moong: Experts

A central team will visit Telangana on Monday to assess the damage due to floods in the state. NDMA advisor Kunal Satyarthi is heading the team.

On 30th July and 31th July, Jharkhand is expected to experience Heavy to Very heavy rainfall (115.6 to 204.4 mm): India Meteorological Department

Loss worth ₹5620.22 crore estimated. 72 landslides, 52 incidents of flash floods recorded, and more than 650 roads, including three national highways, closed.

Since June 24, as many as 187 lives have been lost, 215 people have been injured, and 34 people are missing. 702 houses damaged and 7161 houses partially damaged: State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA)

The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) on Saturday announced offering up to 50 per cent discount on hotel room rent, days after the state government evacuated more than 70,000 stranded tourists following landslides and flash floods due to heavy rains. 

The discount on room rent in HPTDC-run hotels will be in force till September 15, a spokesperson of the corporation said in a statement.

He said that by providing this substantial discount, HPTDC endeavours to elevate the overall experience of the esteemed visitors and foster higher occupancy in their hotels during the monsoon. Read more

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde inspected Thane to Kharegaon and Thane-Nashik highway this morning. Due to potholes on this road, motorists have to suffer for hours in traffic jams

He inspected all the places where there are potholes or there is traffic jam and ordered the concerned authorities to fill these potholes immediately

The area sown under most kharif crops, barring pulses, has nearly expanded to last year’s levels after being disrupted by torrential rains during most of July. However, an uneven monsoon has nearly caused droughts in parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, stoking concerns.

Farmers have sown 23.75 million hectares under paddy, the main summer staple, as on Saturday, up nearly 2% over last year in the corresponding period, official data showed.

Last year, the June-September rainy season had been scanty in the same states of the Indo-Gangetic plains, hammering paddy crops and leading to a 2% fall in the output of West Bengal, the largest producer.

Currently, the monsoon is 7% surplus, but was 84% below normal in eastern Uttar Pradesh in the week ended July 26, according to India Meteorological Department. In Gangetic West Bengal, a paddy belt, rains have been 57% deficient.

Jharkhand, another major rice grower, has seen a 68% subpar monsoon in the week ended July 26, the data showed. The weather bureau has forecast a dry spell in August, which could be worrisome for these states. Read more

Delhi on Saturday logged the cleanest air for 2023, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) dropping to 59 in the “satisfactory” zone, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) national bulletin released at 4 pm — an improvement from the 81 (satisfactory) air the Capital recorded on Friday.

Before Saturday, the city had logged its cleanest air day on July 9, when the AQI was 64.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, between 51 and 100 is considered “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 is considered “moderate”, between 201 and 300 is considered “poor”, between 301 and 400 is considered “very poor”, and between 401 and 500 is considered “severe”.

Experts attributed the improvement in pollution levels to strong winds and rain dispersing pollutants. India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientist RK Jenamani said, “Rain and wind helped in the dispersion of pollutants. There has not been an accumulation of pollutants for the past 20 days.” Read more

Heavy overnight rains continued here till Saturday noon, swelling rivers and drains which inundated several houses and roads.

The incessant rains caused inconvenience to residents of the Kauria area here who had to remove water, slush and garbage from their homes with the help of the Municipal Corporation, Kotdwar SDM Pramod Kumar said.

A culvert connecting the city to the Gabbar Singh camp of the Garhwal Rifles also got damaged, affecting the movement of army vehicles, officials said.

Work to repair the broken culvert is underway, the SDM said.

Clean water is being delivered to the homes of affected people with the help of tankers, Vinod Kumar Kataria, Assistant Engineer, Irrigation Department, said.

JCB machines have been pressed into service to clean the drains and gutters so that water can be prevented from entering people's houses, Kataria said.

Saturday’s rain worsened the waterlogging in several parts of the city that were already reeling from inundated roads and localities following rain over the past 48 hours. Apart from the usual waterlogging spots on arterial roads, even internal roads were waterlogged on Saturday after city received 37.5mm of rain over 12 hours ending 4.30pm.

Residents and commuters said there was no respite even on Saturday as water pumps were not used by the civic agencies to pump out water from the affected areas along Dwarka Expressway, Pataudi and sectors 10 and 23. Although no major traffic congestion was reported in the city on Saturday, the traffic situation was dire on Friday evening, said traffic police officers. Read more

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted light to moderate rainfall over the next few days for Mumbai and its neighbouring districts, which have witnessed torrential showers in the past several days.

The IMD has said Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, east Rajasthan will also receive light to moderate rainfall between July 29 and August 2. Check out here

Badrinath Highway is blocked due to falling of stones from the hill ahead of Baba Ashram Karnprayag, says Chamoli Police

With formation of a fresh low pressure area over north Odisha and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, the IMD on Saturday forecast heavy downpour in north and interior parts of the state.

IMD sources said places such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sonepur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Boudh experienced some rainfall on Saturday.

It also forecast heavy rainfall at some places of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sonepur, Boudh, Balangir and Kandhamal districts on Sunday.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Boudh, Balangir, Kandhamal on July 31 due to the impact of the low pressure, the IMD said.

At least 18 people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents due to the downpour that lashed Telangana during the past week, officials said.

Relief work gained momentum on Saturday as rainfall came to a halt in many parts of the state.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao supervised the relief operations during the day speaking to ministers and Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari, an official release said Saturday night. Read more

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued ‘red alert’ for Mumbai as the city is expecting extremely heavy rainfall today.