Monsoon highlights: Heavy rains claim 37 lives in north India; Army, NDRF teams join for rescue ops

As heavy rains battered the northern parts of Haryana for the third consecutive day on Monday, the southern districts of the state comparatively experienced relief from the monsoon misery. Read more

The annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas remained suspended from Jammu City for the third consecutive day on Monday, said officials. Read more

To take stock of the situation due to continuous heavy rains across the state and in hilly places and to speed up the relief work in the state, Chief Secretary Anurag Verma chaired a high-level meeting on Monday.

The meeting was attended by the administrative secretaries of the concerned departments and the Deputy Commissioners and SSPs of all the districts through video conferencing. In the meeting, Special Chief Secretary to Chief Minister A. Venu Prasad, D.G.P. Gaurav Yadav, and Representatives of the Army and NDRF were also present, said a press release by the Information and Public Relations Department, Punjab.

At least 42 people have died because of heavy rains in various parts of India in the past 72 hours that has disruption normal life, causing flooding in several places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and damage to property in Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

Incessant rains unleashed more death and destruction on Monday in parts of north India with 37 people killed in landslides and other rain-related incidents in the last two days even as the Army and NDRF teams stepped in to intensify the relief and rescue operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken with chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand about the situation and assured them of all help and support from the central government.

Modi also spoke with senior ministers and officials and took stock of the situation in the wake of excessive rainfall in parts of the country, his office said.

There was no let-up in the monsoon fury in Himachal Pradesh on Monday with flash floods and landslides claiming 18 lives over the past two days, affecting most hydropower projects and destroying property worth hundreds of crores of rupees.

Officials said over 300 tourists and local people are stranded in Chandertal, Pagal Nallah and other places in Lahaul and Spiti, while teams of National Disaster Response Force, police and home guard rescued 515 labourers from waterlogged slum areas at Lalsingi in Una district.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said efforts are on to rescue the 300 stranded people, and they could be airlifted as the weather clears. Power and water supply has been snapped in several areas.

The Congress on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a relief package for Himachal Pradesh and other rain-affected states, adding that he should not see politics while distributing such funds as it is not good for a democracy.

As torrential rains hit states killing several people, the Congress called upon the prime minister to provide a package from the PM Cares Fund and not see which party was in power in the affected states.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked the Centre to make available additional relief from the PM CARES Fund for states affected by the torrential rain pounding several parts of north India, including Himachal Pradesh. (PTI)

Incessant rains played havoc for the third consecutive day on Monday in parts of north India, particularly Himachal Pradesh where landslides claimed four more lives even as the Army and NDRF teams stepped in to intensify the relief and rescue operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken with chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand about the situation and assured them of all help and support from the central government.

Modi also spoke with senior ministers and officials and took stock of the situation in the wake of excessive rainfall in parts of the country, his office said.

Several rivers, including the Yamuna in Delhi, in north India are in spate. In cities and towns across the region, many roads and residential areas were submerged in knee-deep water with the civic system unable to hold on in the face of record rains on Sunday. (ANI)

The India Meteorological Department on Monday said that the intense spell of rains over Himachal Pradesh is likely to decrease from tomorrow, however, Uttarakhand may continue to witness heavy to very heavy rainfall for the next three days.

Speaking with ANI, IMD Senior Scientist Dr Soma Sen Roy said, "Currently if you see in terms of warnings, today also, we have given an extremely heavy rainfall warning for Himachal Pradesh, mostly over western Uttarakhand, Northeast Punjab, Haryana, Northwestern parts of west Uttar Pradesh, and South Rajasthan. These regions that I have just mentioned are likely to get heavy to very heavy rainfall, up to 20 cm of rainfall."

He also said that very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is expected over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Assam, especially Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh for the next three days.

All Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools, MCD-aided and recognised schools will remain closed on Tuesday for students, in view of the heavy rainfall alert.

Incessant rains over the past four days have damaged public facilities worth around ₹75 crore in Kangra, District Collector Nipun Jindal said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the deputy commissioner apprised Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu of the current situation in the district during a video conference meeting.

Addressing reporters here after the meeting, Jindal said owing to torrential rains from July 6 to July 9, the district suffered losses of ₹75 crore, of which the Public Works Department (PWD) incurred a loss of about ₹31 crore.

Heavy traffic jams and congestion in several parts of Delhi were reported on Monday after heavy rains continued to batter the city, causing waterlogging.

The tunnel connecting Pragati Maidan to the transit corridor is temporarily closed due to the occurrence of significant waterlogging.

According to traffic police officials, the heavy downpour in the area has resulted in the inundation of the Pragati Maidan tunnel, rendering it inaccessible for public use. "To mitigate the water logging situation, an extensive pumping operation is currently underway," they said.

The India Meteorological Department on Monday issued a 'yellow alert' for the national capital while the Yamuna River in Delhi, which was flowing above warning level for hours, crossed the danger mark of 205.33 metres at 5 pm on Monday, the latest data from the flood control department said.

Moreover, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that the government is on alert mode and that is fully prepared to control the situation after the administration issued a flood alert following the release of a significant amount of water, totaling over one lakh cusecs, into the Yamuna River from the Hathnikund barrage by Haryana. Additionally, at 1 pm on Monday, 1,90,837 cusecs of water was released from the same barrage.

As per latest communication from Northern Railways, a total of 100 trains cancelled in North India due to heavy rain fall on Ambala-Chandigarh-Kalka, Sirhind-Nangal Dam, Chandigarh-Sahnewal and Ambala-Saharanpur sections.

Ambala-Saharanpur and Kalka-Shimla sections and tracks beyond Nangal Dam remain closed for Day 2. No seeming restoration as no respite from rain yet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and assured "unwavering support" to his government as heavy rainfall caused widespread damage across the state.

The prime minister inquired about the extent of the damage caused to life and property due to heavy rains and floods, an official statement issued here said.

Sukhu informed Modi that the state has been severely affected by floods and landslides, it said.

He said roads have been damaged while water and electric supply has been disrupted, and urged the prime minister to declare the situation as a national calamity, the statement said.

"Around 24 trains running on the Delhi-Ambala route have been cancelled following inclement weather in North India...It is not possible to give an estimate of monetary loss right now," says Shobhan Chaudhari, General Manager, Northern Railway

The Yamuna crossed the danger mark of 205.33 metres in Delhi on Monday as torrential rains pummelled the upper catchment areas of the river for the third day on the trot.

The river breached the danger mark earlier than expected. It was predicted that it would cross the danger mark by Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Central Water Commission's (CWC) flood-monitoring portal, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge had risen to 205.4 metres by 5 pm as Haryana released more water into the river from the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar.

The water level is anticipated to rise to 206.65 metres on Tuesday before it starts receding.

After six deaths reported during the pilgrimage, the Shrikhand Mahadev Yatra has been directed to halt for the rest of the season. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu headed a review meeting of State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and said that the state has reported 17 deaths so far due to heavy rain. The initial estimate of loss ranges between ₹3000 crore to ₹4000 crore, he further said. 

Also, efforts are underway to evacuate around 300 stranded tourists and residents in Lahaul-Spiti and Kullu districts by using helicopters once the weather permits. (ANI)

Delhi special CP of traffic, Surender Singh Yadav told news agency ANI that trees were uprooted at 13 locations in the city due to heavy rain on Sunday and as a result, traffic was disrupted at 9 places in the city. Waterlogging was reported at 70 locations.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann swung into action, taking stock of relief and rescue measures at the grassroots level. He conducted a whirlwind tour of rain-affected areas and interacts with people evacuated from low-lying areas after heavy downpour.

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday said that the government is on “high alert”. “As soon as the Yamuna river crosses 206 meters of water level, we will begin evacuations along the bank of the river,” he further said.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Skhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday said that the state has not witnessed such "widespread heavy rains" in the past 50 years and that there has been a loss of about ₹3,000 crore for the state in this monsoon season so far.

Landslides in Himachal Pradesh claimed four more lives in Shimla and the Shimla-Kalka highway was blocked on Monday morning as heavy rains wreaked havoc in the hill state continued for the third day, PTI reported.