Rains wreak havoc in north India, 15 killed

NEW DELHI: As heavy rains wreaked havoc at several places in north and Northwest India for the second consecutive day on Sunday, 15 people were killed in landslides and other rain-related incidents, while most rivers in north India, including the Yamuna in Delhi, were in spate. In cities and towns across the region, many roads and residential areas were submerged in knee-deep water.

Flash floods washed away roads in hilly areas, leaving people marooned, while authorities asked tourists to plan their visit after the weather improved. Railway services have also been hit.

In cities and towns across the region, including Delhi, Gurugram and Noida, waterlogging led to traffic woes.

On Sunday, the Delhi government issued a flood warning after Haryana discharged more than 1-lakh cusecs of water into the Yamuna from the Hathni Kund barrage.

As most parts of north and northwest India, including the national capital region, received torrential rains, all schools in Delhi and its adjoining NCR cities of Gurugram and Noida will be closed on Monday.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that all schools in the national capital will remain closed.

"In view of the torrential rains in the last two days and keeping in mind the warnings of the meteorological department, all schools will remain closed on Monday," Mr Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

Heavy rainfall led to severe waterlogging and traffic congestion in several parts of Gurugram on Sunday, with the administration advising corporate houses to work from home on Monday and schools to announce a holiday.

Following the heavy rain, the schools in Noida will also remain closed on July 10. "In view of the heavy rains, schools in Noida will remain closed," Rakesh Chauhan, district information officer, Gautam Buddha Nagar, said.

The Northern Railways said it has cancelled around 17 trains and diverted around 12 others, while traffic has been suspended at four locations due to waterlogging.

Red alerts have been issued for Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. While an orange alert has been issued for Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and east Rajasthan," said the regional meteorology centre, adding that the alert for Delhi on Sunday was downgraded to a yellow alert for the next 24 hours.

An interaction between a western disturbance and monsoonal winds is leading to an intense rainfall spell over northwest India, including Delhi, which experienced the season's first "very heavy" rainfall.

Heavy downpour warnings have been issued for certain areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, while in Delhi, which recorded its highest rainfall in a single day in July since 1982, authorities have cautioned over the rising water level of the Yamuna.

Chandigarh and Ambala in Haryana reported record rainfall of 322.2 mm and 224.1 mm respectively.

In three separate incidents of landslides in Himachal Pradesh, where a red alert for extremely heavy rains has been issued for seven districts, five people were killed.

Three members of a family were killed in a house collapse following a landslide in Shimla district's Kotgarh area, while one death each was reported from Kullu and Chamba districts. Fourteen major landslides and 13 flash floods have been reported in the past 36 hours and over 700 roads have been closed.

In neighbouring Uttarakhand, three pilgrims drowned in the Ganga after their jeep fell into the river amid a landslide near Gular on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway. The SDRF and police officials said there were 11 people in the jeep. Five people have been rescued, while a search is on for three others, they said, adding that three bodies have been recovered by rescue personnel.

In the Kashipur area of the state, two houses collapsed, killing a couple and injuring their granddaughter. Two persons were also killed in Jammu and Kashmir after a landslide hit a passenger bus in Doda district. The bodies of two soldiers, who were swept away by flash floods while crossing the Dogra Nallah on Saturday, were recovered in Poonch district.

However, there was some relief in Srinagar from the heavy downpour and the yatra to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath resumed on Sunday from the Panjtarni and the Sheshnag base camps after remaining suspended for three days.

There were also reports of snowfall from high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh, where a red alert has been issued for heavy rains.
In hill states, flash floods stranded many, with about 200 people marooned in Chandratal in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul and Spiti and a part of the Chandigarh-Manali highway washed away by the surging waters of the Beas river. Landslides and cave-ins due to these floods have also led to villages in mountainous regions of Uttarakhand becoming inaccessible by road.

There were also reports of shops being swept away in Manali and vehicles being washed away in flash floods at Nullah in Kullu, Kinnaur and Chamba.

Heavy monsoon rains in several parts of Punjab and Haryana led to massive waterlogging and flooding in low-lying areas.

Widespread rainfall was also reported in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, where a few areas received heavy to very heavy rains while moderate to heavy rainfall occurred in many areas.