LIVE Weather Highlights: 27 Deaths in Himachal Till Date, Says CM; IMD Issues Red Alert for U'khand

The Indian Air Force is on standby to ready to deal with any flood situation in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi, IAF officials told CNN-News18.

Mumbai has received 31.17 per cent of the annual average rainfall of 2,547 mm till Monday morning, as per the city civic body’s monsoon report.

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Mumbai centre declared the onset of monsoon in the country’s financial capital on June 25, late by about a fortnight.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) report, the IMD Mumbai has recorded 1,043.8 mm rainfall at its Santacruz observatory (representative of suburbs) and 658.7 mm rainfall at the Colaba observatory (representative of the island city) in the last 15 days.

The Delhi government has directed the PWD, MCD and DJB to carry out a safety audit of obsolete drains and pipelines following recent incidents of road cave-ins in the city, minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Tuesday. A large portion of a road in west Delhi’s Janakpuri caved in due to leakage of a sewer line last week. Similarly, a road in Najafgarh caved in last week.

A portion of a road caved-in near Sher Shah road here Tuesday morning, leading to traffic congestion at India Gate C-Hexagon. Asked the possible reasons behind such episodes, Bharadwaj, who holds the charge of urban development, said there are many underground drains of the Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The rain ebbed on Tuesday in Haryana and Punjab after three days of incessant downpour, which left behind a trail of destruction in several parts of the twin states where properties worth crores were damaged and nine lives lost. The governments in both states have stepped up efforts to provide relief to the affected people.

On Tuesday morning, the weather was clear at most places in the region, which brought relief to the people after the incessant downpour inundated homes and caused extensive damage to crops and vegetables in many districts. Officials said relief shelters have been set up in the affected districts, including Rupnagar, Patiala, Mohali, Ambala and Panchkula, in the two states.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday held a press conference and said 27 people have lost their lives due to the heavy rains in the state till date. He said, “I met people in the flood-affected areas. Telecommunication, water supply, and electricity supply have totally broken down. I have deployed a helicopter for the rescue work. People around the Manali-Kullu highway will be rescued soon. Rains have created havoc in Himachal. Till date, 27 deaths have been reported due to rains in the state. This is the worst rainfall in the last 50 years.”

Rail line in Tibdi area of ​​Haridwar affected to land sliding following incessant rains in the state. Due to the debris coming from Mansa Devi Hill, the tracks near the railway tunnel have been blocked. Dozens of trains are affected.

A 42-year-old man died while his wife and son were injured when their single-storey house collapsed following incessant rainfall in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, police officials said on Tuesday.

They said the incident occurred in the Salyan neighbourhood of Jewar town around midnight, news agency PTI reported.

A blame game started on Tuesday even as people were plagued by multiple problems due to the heavy rain over the weekend, with Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena saying the city faced the “annual ritual” of waterlogging as drains were not properly cleaned, prompting a sharp reaction from the AAP government.

Delhi | A total of 39 NDRF teams have been deployed in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Punjab and other states amid heavy rain alert. Teams from Odisha and Maharashtra are also on standby. We are in touch with state authorities and we are monitoring the situation. In case the need arises, evacuations will be done: Mohsen Shahidi, DIG NDRF

A total of 730 girl students of a residential school in Haryana’s Ambala City were shifted to Kurukshetra after floodwaters entered their hostel complex following a beach in the Ghaggar river, officials said on Tuesday. Chaman Vatika Gurukul principal Sonali said the students were shifted on Monday evening after the water level in the hostel reached two or three feet.

She said assistance was taken from the Army and the police to evacuate the students, she said on Tuesday. The principal said the students have been shifted to an institute in Kurukshetra. They will return as soon as the situation normalises, she added.

Three days of incessant downpour from Saturday has left behind a trail of destruction in several parts of Punjab and Haryana where properties worth crores have been damaged and nine lives lost. Ambala is one of the worst-affected districts.

The Amarnath Yatra resumed from the Jammu base camp on Tuesday afternoon after remaining suspended for three days in view of the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway for repairs in the Ramban section.

A fresh batch of pilgrims was allowed to move towards Kashmir for their onward journey to the Amarnath cave shrine as the highway, which had been damaged at several places due to incessant rainfall, was opened, they said.

Amarnath pilgrims usually leave Jammu between 3.45 am and 4.30 am every day. The suspension of the yatra had left around 15,000 pilgrims stranded in Jammu and at other places.

A helicopter from the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been requisitioned to airlift the tourists stranded at Chandertal in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh while a rescue team from Kaza has reached Kunzum Top and is just eight kilometres away from the lake, Principal Secretary, Revenue, Onkar Chand Sharma said on Tuesday. Around 300 people, mostly tourists, are stuck in camps at Chandertal, located at an altitude of 14,100 feet, following rain and snowfall in the region.

“Two of them were facing breathing issues due to the high altitude and they would be airlifted,” Sharma said. All the stranded people would be evacuated to safe places by Tuesday night, he said, adding that about 100 people were rescued from different places in the hill state on Monday.

A 42-year-old man died while his wife and son were injured when their single-storey house collapsed following incessant rainfall in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, police officials said on Tuesday.

They said the incident occurred in the Salyan neighbourhood of Jewar town around midnight.

“Satveer, his wife Anuradha (38) and son Nitin (19) were inside the house when it collapsed. Neighbours and other local people rushed to help them and the trio was taken to a nearby hospital, where Satveer succumbed to injuries,” a police spokesperson said.

The Yamuna in Delhi has exceeded the evacuation mark of 206 metres, prompting the relocation of people residing in flood-prone areas to safer locations and a closure of the Old Railway Bridge for road and rail traffic, officials said on Tuesday. The river crossed the danger mark of 205.33 metres in Delhi on Monday evening, much earlier than anticipated.

According to the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) flood-monitoring portal, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge rose from 205.4 metres at 5 pm on Monday to 206.38 metres at 12 noon on Tuesday with Haryana releasing more water into the Yamuna from the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar. It is expected that the river will rise to 206.75 metres by 6 pm.

According to the officials, road and rail traffic at the Old Yamuna Bridge has been suspended as a precautionary measure. With floodwaters entering the low-lying areas, videos of Yamuna Bazar residents wading through knee-deep water made their way to social media.

Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao on Tuesday said he has alerted the state government’s resident commissioner in Delhi to assist students from the state who are stuck in rain-hit Himachal Pradesh.

Rama Rao said he has received information from some distressed parents that a few students from the state are stuck in Kullu and Manali of Himachal Pradesh.

“Have alerted our Resident Commissioner in New Delhi to assist the students. If anyone needs assistance they can reach out to @TS_Bhavan or @KTRoffice,” he tweeted.

Water supply to several parts of the city remained disrupted for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as heavy silt following incessant rains affected pumping of water. Water is being supplied through tankers to the residents and ten tankers have been pressed into service, Mayor of the Corporation Surender Chauhan said.

Shimla received 6.58 mld (million litre per day) of water on Tuesday against the average 42-45 mld as no pumping was done from the Giri water source, according to the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited (SJPNL) officials.

Giri and Gumma are the two major sources of water, supplying an average 15 mld each but only 2.23 mld was supplied from Gumma as Chaba pumping station is damaged, Nautikhad is flooded and only one pump is working at the Gumma station.

Four pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh died and seven more were injured when a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall buried three vehicles near the Gangnani bridge on the Gangotri National Highway here, officials said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Monday night when the vehicles came under debris due to the landslide from the hill near the bridge.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the incident and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel during heavy rains. Three of the four bodies have been recovered and efforts are underway to pull out the fourth from the rubble, Bhatwadi Sub-Collector Chatar Singh Chauhan said.

Two of the seven people injured are in a serious condition, he said. Chauhan said teams of police and the State Disaster Response Force reached the spot for relief and rescue operations as soon as the information came in. Local people and personnel of the Border Roads Organisation also joined the relief work.

The rain ebbed on Tuesday after three days of incessant downpour, which left behind a trail of destruction in several parts of Punjab and Haryana where properties worth crores were damaged and nine lives lost.

The governments in both states have stepped up efforts to provide relief to affected people even as they scramble to conduct rescue operations.

On Tuesday morning, the weather was clear at most places in the region which brought relief to the people, after the incessant downpour inundated homes and caused extensive damage to crops and vegetables in many districts.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded in isolated parts of Rajasthan and one rain-related fatality was reported in Pratapgarh district, officials said on Tuesday. Shivganj in Sirohi district recorded the highest 13-centimetre downpour in a 24-hour period ending on Tuesday morning, they said.

Light to moderate rainfall occurred at most places in the eastern part of the state and at isolated places in the western part during the same period, the officials added. According to the meteorological department, Abu Road in Sirohi recorded 11 cm downpour, Pratapgarh and Dholpur 9 cm each, Sangod (Kota), Paota and Chomu (both in Jaipur) and Sumerpur (Pali) recorded 8 cm each while the rainfall in many other areas was below 8 cm.

The weather office has predicted heavy rainfall in Baran, Bharatpur, Bundi, Dholpur, Jhalawar, Karauli, Kota and Sawai Madhopur districts on Wednesday. In Pratapgarh, a 35-year-old man drowned in the Karmvachhni river on Monday night.

Floods in Jummagad river in the border area of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand has washed away the bridge built on it, blocking the Indo-Tibet border road there while contact with over a dozen border villages has also been lost. Flooding in Jummagad river flowing near Jumma village on the Joshimath-Niti highway, about 45 km from Joshimath, continued till late night on Monday evening, in which the bridge collapsed.

The Joshimath-Malari border road is now blocked and traffic connectivity to over a dozen border villages in the area has also stopped. Supply to border outposts by road has also come to a standstill. The flood water was so high that it kept flowing over the Joshimath-Malari road, which stood several metres above the river.