Weather News: Death Toll Due to Rain-related Incidents Over Past Week Jumps to 78 in Himachal; Waterlogging in Delhi-NCR

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said Rajasthan has provided Rs 15 crore to help deal with the disaster caused by the recent heavy rains, floods and landslides. This comes a day after Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced financial assistance of Rs 11 crore to Himachal Pradesh.

BJP president J P Nadda will be visiting his home state Himachal Pradesh on Sunday to take stock of the heavy damage inflicted by the recent floods and landslides, which have left at least 77 people dead.

The BJP said Nadda will meet the families of some of those who lost their lives, visit an ancient Shiva temple destroyed by heavy rains and landslides in Shimla

The death toll in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh over the past week rose to 78 on Saturday with the recovery of one more body from the debris of a collapsed Shiv temple here, officials said.

Out of the 78 deaths since Sunday night, 24 were in the three major landslides in Shimla alone.

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, “If rains don’t happen in the coming days then our work will speed up. I had a meeting with PM Modi and he listened to us carefully. He also gave instructions. We have declared a natural calamity in the state. We expect a special package from the Prime Minister of the country. The state has witnessed a loss of more than Rs 10,000 crores.”

Heavy rainfall on Saturday morning led to waterlogging in several parts of Gurugram. Affected areas include Narsinghpur, Golf Course Road Extension, Pataudi Chowk, Udyog Vihar, AIT Chowk, Sohna Road, Subhash Chowk, Vatika Chowk, sectors four, nine, 10, 14, 38, 45, 54 and 100 to 104, and Basai road but no significant traffic congestion was reported, the traffic police said.

“CM has given guidance and we are making a comprehensive plan. A lot of roads have been damaged & there are buildings that are at risk…NDRF is doing a great job given the circumstance,” said Devesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Urban Development, Town & Country Planning).

Rescue operations are underway in Shimla following heavy rains.

The NH-58 Rishikesh-Badrinath highway has been closed due to a landslide, Tehri District Magistrate Mayur Dixit said on Saturday.

Haryana’s Gurugram witnessed severe waterlogging due to heavy rain on Friday.

“Today is the sixth day of the search and rescue operation. We retrieved 16 bodies yesterday. Our search operation is underway for four other bodies that have been reported. NDRF, SDRF & Army teams are present at the spot. We are doing everything manually,” said Nafees Khan, Inspector, NDRF.

Uttarakhand is likely to see more showers on August 21 and 22.

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

In the northeast, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are likely to receive rainfall and thunderstorms for the next four days. 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.

Rain showered triggered waterlogging on roads in the Dwarka area of Delhi.

Heavy rains late Friday night triggered waterlogging on roads in the Badarpur area of Delhi.

According to a PTI report, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has announced a financial aid of Rs 15 crore for rain-ravaged Himachal Pradesh.

Following landslides in various parts of Shimla, residents of low-lying areas of the city were shifted to safer places by the administration.

Light to moderate rainfall at a few places is likely to continue in the next 48 hours in Himachal. The rainfall activity is likely to increase in distribution and intensity from August 21 in the state till August 24, the weather office said in a release.

Heavy rains lashed parts of Delhi-NCR on Friday night.

The IMD on Friday issued a yellow warning for heavy rains, thunderstorm and lightning at 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh on August 21 and 22.