Heavy rainfall across states, IMD issues alert for next four days
Rains continued to lash different parts of the country, with several incidents of landslides, floods triggered due to rain were reported
Rains continued to lash different parts of the country, with a cloudburst reported from Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir and heavy rainfall leading to rivers overflowing in Uttarakhand. Some towns in Gujarat such as Rajkot and Gir Somnath remained flooded, even as India Meteorological Department predicted heavy rains for western and central India in the next four days.
At least 16 people have died in Maharashtra due to rain- related incidents in Vidarbha in the past 10 days, including three in Yavatmal district, state relief and rehabilitation minister Anil Patil said. In Karnataka, due to heavy rainfall since Tuesday and water flowing in from Maharashtra, two people died and another 15 were injured in Belagavi district.
Read | Gujarat rain fury: 'Heavy' rain to continue for next 24 hours; Orange alert issued
In Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the ferocity of rains was muted on Sunday compared to Friday night and Saturday, although large parts of the two Himalayan states remained out of bounds for travel as landslides blocked close to 700 roads in Himachal Pradesh and 330 in Uttarakhand.
Major rivers in the two states, such as the Ganga in Uttarakhand and the Sutlej in Himachal Pradesh, continued to be in spate. “More rains anticipated in the next four days can aggravate the situation,” an official of the Himachal disaster management department said on condition of anonymity.
In J&K, a cloudburst was reported from Keran sector in Kupwara. There has been no casualties or damage, said Gurdeep Singh, chief agriculture officer, Kupwara.
In Gujarat, floodwaters receded on Sunday in Junagadh district as authorities shifted nearly 3,000 people to safer locations. The weather office issued an orange alert for Gujarat, saying the state was expected to receive “heavy to very heavy rainfall” on July 24. It also predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places, with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in Devbhumi Dwarka, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Valsad districts in the next 24 hours.
In Rajasthan, moderate rain was reported in south-western and western districts, whereas heavy rainfall in Jodhpur led to water logging in chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s home town. “The monsoon will be active for the next three to four days, after which it will get reduced,” said Radhe Shyam Sharma, director of the Met department in state capital Jaipur. “A low-pressure area has been formed over West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh to West Rajasthan, following which the state is getting a good amount of rains.”
Maharashtra, where close to 4,500 houses have been damaged due to heavy rains, remained on high alert to tackle issues caused by excessive precipitation, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday. Heavy rains are expected in the state over the next four days.|
