Weather Highlights: Himachal Pradesh Declared As 'Natural Calamity Affected Area'; Rains to Continue in U'khand

The sub-Himalayan districts of West Bengal are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall from August 21-26, the Met Department said on Friday. The southern districts of the state, however, are expected to receive light rain during the period, it said.

The monsoon trough is likely to shift close to the foothills of the Himalayas, while strong moisture incursion is also anticipated in the region from the Bay of Bengal, the weather office said. Heavy rain is likely to occur in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts on August 21 and August 22, it said.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in its latest weather bulletin predicted light and moderate fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy rainfall activity over Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar in the coming week.

The state government of Himachal Pradesh on Friday was declared as a “natural calamity affected area.”

Generally cloudy sky with light rain is expected in the national capital in the next three days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

While the maximum temperature settled at 36.7 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average, the minimum temperature on Thursday settled at 27.5 degrees Celsius, one notch above the normal.

Rescuers have safely evacuated 243 pilgrims who were stranded since Monday on the trek route to Madmaheshwar temple in rain-hit Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district following a bridge collapse.

The shrine which is part of the Panch Kedar group of temples in Uttarakhand is located at an altitude of 11,473 ft.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel were pressed into service and 190 pilgrims were airlifted by a helicopter on Wednesday, while 53 were evacuated on Tuesday through the rope river crossing method, the state disaster control room here said on Wednesday evening.

About 80 people were rendered homeless when a massive landslide hit their village in the district damaging 12 houses, the Uttarakhand State Emergency Operation Centre here said on Friday.

The landslide on Wednesday also disrupted power supply to the village, Madarsu Majra Jakhan, in Vikasnagar area of Dehradun district, situated about 50 km from the city, it said.

Several areas in Odisha received heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours under the influence of a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal, an official said on Friday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow warning of light to moderate rain with thundershowers and lightning in 18 districts of Odisha, including the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on Friday.

The local weather office said that extremely heavy rainfall was recorded in at least six places – Telkoi in Keonjhar district (182.6 mm), Banki in Cuttack district (182 mm), Gudvella in Bolangir district (139.8 mm), Pipili in Puri district (122 mm), Champua in Keonjhar district (120.6 mm) and Deogaon in Bolangir district (107 mm) Khurda town received 88 mm rainfall followed by Hirakud (87.8), Nabarangpur (81), Keonjhar (70.6), Puri (69.6), Bhubaneswar (63.8), and Titlagarh (60.8) till 8.30 AM of Friday.

The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to declare the massive damage caused by heavy rains as a state calamity, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Friday. He said a notification in this regard would be issued Friday. The state is also waiting a response from the Centre to declare the disaster in Himachal Pradesh as a national calamity.

Heavy rains have lashed the hill state since Sunday, triggering landslides in several districts, including Shimla. Talking to PTI, the chief minister said rescue operations are going on in full swing and the state government is making efforts to help the affected families especially those whose houses have been damaged in the flash floods and landslides with its own resources.

“Central teams have inspected the affected areas for loss assessment and we need timely help from the Centre,” Sukhu said, adding the state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 10,000 crore.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday announced to provide a financial assistance of Rs 11 crore to Himachal Pradesh, where heavy rains and landslides have wreaked havoc, a government official here said.Baghel on Thursday spoke to his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu over phone and took stock of the situation in the northern state and assured to extend support to deal with it, he said.

In a statement issued on Friday, Baghel said a severe natural calamity has hit the ‘Devbhoomi’ (land of gods) Himachal Pradesh and in such a situation, people of Chhattisgarh are standing with the people of the northern state.

The CM said he has announced to release Rs 11 crore on behalf of the people of Chhattisgarh to the Himachal Pradesh government for the relief and rehabilitation of victims of the disaster.

Government on Thursday launched the mobile application ‘FloodWatch’ with the aim of using mobile phones to disseminate information related to the flood situation and forecasts up to seven days on a real-time basis to the public.

The in-house developed user-friendly app has readable and audio broadcast and all the information is available in two languages, i.e. English and Hindi.

Key feature of the app includes real-time flood monitoring where users can check up-to-date flood situation throughout the country. The app utilises near real-time river flow data from various sources

he water level of the major rivers in Uttar Pradesh has started increasing after heavy rainfall in the hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The Ganga was flowing above the danger level in Bulandshahr, Badaun and Farrukhabad districts and the Ramganga in Shahjahanpur and the Ghaghra in Barabanki, Ayodhya and Ballia.

Relief commissioner G.S. Naveen Kumar said on Friday that all the embankments in the state were safe and there was no reason for worry.

The water level of the Yamuna in the national capital dropped below the danger level on Friday.

The water level of the Yamuna was recorded at 203.92 metres at 7 am.

The danger level of the river is 204.5 metres.

Heavy rains disrupted normal life in the Kaluwala area of Dehradun in the early hours of Friday. The rainwater entered the houses and caused waterlogging on the streets, officials said.

According to State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), information was received from the Disaster Control Room that incessant rainfall created major waterlogging in the streets and that rainwater has also entered people’s homes in Dehradun’s Kaluwala area, disrupting daily life.

After receiving the information, a team of SDRF reached the spot and immediately engaged in the work.

Water level in Pranmati river in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand has increased to a great extent following incessant rainfall in the state, which has been witnessed massive flooding and landslides.

Authorities have alerted the locals in the area to ensure the safety and well-being of the residents, officials said on Friday.

According to Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana, River Pranmati has swollen due to heavy downpours.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited the rain and flood-affected areas of Matehdi, Baldwara, Maseran and Jukain of Sarkaghat assembly segment of Mandi district today and interacted with the people who suffered losses besides assuring them of all possible support from the Government.

The Chief Minister announced immediate financial assistance of rupees one lakh each to the affected families for refurbishing their partially damaged houses. The Chief Minister also met 23 families from Gram Panchayat Gehra, who had suffered heavy losses during the recent rain wrath. The Chief Minister directed the district administration to provide the best facilities to them at the relief camps they were sheltered in.

Himachal Monsoon Mayhem: LoP Himachal Pradesh Jairam Thakur shares how the current situation in Himachal is and whether Himachal is awaiting further disaster.

Himachal Pradesh: Search and rescue operation underway at the landslide-affected areas of Shimla.

Uttarakhand| SDRF carried out relief and rescue operations in Dehradun’s Kaluwala on Thursday night after rainwater entered several houses in the area.

The Indian Air Force carried out rescue operations in the flood-hit areas of Himachal Pradesh which has been battered with incessant rains.

“The flood triggered by rains on July 9 not only destroyed our hard work for the year but also destroyed our land in a way we have never seen before. The deluge brought an overwhelming amount of sand, debris and stones, damaging the crops grown on our 12 bighas. A thick layer of almost one-foot high debris now covers our once fertile land,” says Rishabh Saklani, a farmer from Sidhpur panchayat in Dharampur block of Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh.

This year, parts of north India have witnessed incessant rainfall, disrupting normal life and causing devastation in its wake. Several roads were blocked and many people were stranded because of the landslides triggered due to heavy rains.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has sought about Rs 8,000 crore from the Centre to rebuild the state after the devastation due to floods.