IMD Rainfall Alert: The Meteorological Department has issued an alert of heavy rains in 23 states in the next five days. Due to floods in UP, water has entered 800 villages.
IMD Rainfall Alert: Monsoon rains are continuing across the country. Rains are pouring down from the sky like a disaster in the hilly and northeastern states. The Badrinath highway, which was closed due to landslides in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, has opened after 83 hours. About four and a half thousand passengers were stranded at various places due to the closure of the highway. 21 more people have lost their lives in the last 24 hours due to lightning in Bihar. The flood situation in Assam is improving continuously, but more than 12 lakh people are still affected. Heavy to very heavy rains are expected in different places in 23 states of the country for the next five days and the Meteorological Department has issued red, orange and yellow alerts.
It has been raining continuously in Uttarakhand for the last few days. Due to this, the mountains are cracking. Debris had fallen on the Badrinath highway near Chungidhar in Joshimath at 7 am on Tuesday. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) team was busy removing the debris when again at 11 am on the same day, a large part of the mountain broke and a huge rock got stuck on the road. Along with the polling parties going to cast votes in the Badrinath assembly by-election, a large number of devotees on the Char Dham Yatra were also stranded.
On Friday evening, the highway was first opened for pedestrians and then for vehicles. As soon as the highway opened, the devotees present there chanted Jai Badrivishal and Jo Bole Sonihal.
800 villages of UP surrounded by floods
After heavy rains and water released from Nepal, the effect of floods is now taking a terrible form in many cities of UP. About 250 villages of Bahraich, Shravasti, Gonda, Balrampur, Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar, Barabanki, Sitapur are in the grip of floods. At the same time, a large population of 150 villages of Lakhimpur Kheri, 30 of Shahjahanpur, 70 of Badaun, 70 of Bareilly and about 222 villages of Pilibhit are surrounded by flood water. There is also news of some houses being washed away due to flood situation in Ballia of Purvanchal. More than 800 villages of UP are in the grip of floods.
10 roads closed in Himachal, yellow alert till 18
Himachal Pradesh is also receiving continuous monsoon rains. 10 roads including four in Shimla are closed due to landslides. The Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for heavy rains in different parts of the state on July 13, 14, 17 and 18. Between July 1-12, the state has received 81.8 mm of rain, which is four percent less than the normal 85.6 mm during this period. On Friday, Dharamsala recorded the highest rainfall of 12.6 mm.
Lightning wreaks havoc in Bihar: 70 deaths this month
21 people have died due to lightning in Bihar during the last 24 hours. The maximum 6 deaths have occurred in Madhubani district. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed deep grief over the deaths and has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to each deceased family. So far, 70 people have lost their lives due to lightning this month alone.
Mumbai: Roads turned into rivers
The torrential rain has stopped the pace of Mumbai which runs day and night. Due to the rain for the last few days, the roads in Mumbai have turned into rivers. The operation of local trains, which are called lifelines, has also been affected and the movement of long distance trains has also been affected. According to the Meteorological Department, along with the monsoon, a stormy cyclone has formed over Mumbai and due to its effect, there was heavy rain on Friday as well.
Assam: Slight improvement in the situation
The flood situation in Assam has improved slightly and flood water has receded in many districts. However, more than 12.33 lakh people are still in the grip of floods in 2,406 villages of 24 districts of the state. More than 41 thousand people have become homeless and have taken shelter in 189 relief camps. So far 106 people have lost their lives due to floods, rain and lightning. Various agencies including SDRF have been engaged in relief and rescue operations.
Heavy rain in these states
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), heavy to very heavy rainfall has occurred at different places in Meghalaya during the last 24 hours. Heavy to very heavy rains have been recorded at different places in Gujarat region, Konkan and Goa, West Bengal and Sikkim. At the same time, good rains have occurred at different places in Bihar, East and West UP, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand.
Apart from this, torrential rains have also been recorded in East Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Maharashtra, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Coastal Karnataka, Assam and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The highest rainfall of 89 mm was recorded in Parbatsar of Nagaur district of Rajasthan and 65 mm in Sepau of Dholpur district.