New Delhi: Monsoon rain unleashed a trail of destruction across parts of the country on Wednesday, killing seven people in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka as landslides, flooded roads and disrupted transport brought normal life to standstill in several regions.
In Uttar Pradesh, two people were killed and eight others, including four children, suffered burn injuries after being struck by lightning.
Two girls had a miraculous escape after suffering electric shock from an exposed live wire on a waterlogged road in Navi Mumbai’s Nerul as rains battered several parts of Maharashtra.
The showers brought welcome relief from scorching heat in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh after days of sweltering weather, while the southwest monsoon advanced across most parts of Uttarakhand.
Four people were killed in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh as heavy monsoon showers in several parts of the hill state, including Shimla, Manali and Dharamshala, led to multiple road closures due to landslides, swollen rivers and disruptions in electricity supply. The southwest monsoon, which arrived in Himachal on Tuesday, covered the entire state by Wednesday, the weather office in Shimla said, as it issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places from July 2-6, except for July 4.
A woman hailing from Solan district was killed when a falling boulder hit her as she stepped out of her car on the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway near Aut.
According to the state emergency operation centre, three deaths were reported from Kangra district, which included one death each due to electrocution and falling from height, on the first day of monsoon rains.
Incessant rain has created flood-like situations at Lanot and Phagdog villages in Chamba district, where falling debris from a mountain entered two houses, causing severe damages, including cracks on the walls.
Schools that had closed because of heat reopened on Wednesday, but attendance was thin given the heavy rain.
According to the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), a total of 35 roads, including 18 roads in Kullu, 11 in Mandi and two each in Lahaul-Spiti, Sirmaur and Una districts, were closed for vehicular traffic, and 127 electricity transformers were disrupted in the state.
In Karnataka’s Mangaluru, three members of a family, including two girls, were killed and three others were rescued after a rain-triggered landslide destroyed a house early morning.
The incident occurred in the Nagori area following heavy overnight rainfall that triggered a landslide, burying the house under a mound of earth. Preliminary findings indicated that a large mass of soil from the hill above the house gave way due to incessant rain, leading to the collapse of the structure.
In Maharashtra, heavy rains battered Thane and Palghar districts and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), triggering widespread flooding in several low-lying areas, leaving citizens stranded in various pockets as stormwater drains overflowed.
Authorities have declared a red alert, predicting extremely heavy rainfall in Palghar district in the next 24 hours. Schools and colleges in the district will remain shut on Thursday.
According to officials, very heavy rains are likely in Thane district in the next three days.
The downpour since late Tuesday caused severe waterlogging across several residential belts.
In Ulhasnagar township in Thane district, floodwaters seeped into residential quarters, leaving a 70-year-old woman stranded inside her home in the Jijamata locality for hours before being rescued by fire brigade personnel.
Videos of elderly woman being safely carried through knee-deep water by rescuers have surfaced on social media.
The IMD has also issued an orange alert for Mumbai, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall with the possibility of extremely heavy rain at isolated locations over the next few days.
In Jammu and Kashmir, pilgrimages to the Machail Mata and Mindhal Mata shrines in Kishtwar district remained suspended on Wednesday due to incessant rainfall, slippery roads and the risk of shooting stones.
The IMD said a low-pressure area is likely to form over the northwest Bay of Bengal on July 3, bringing heavy rainfall to south Bengal.
A favourable wind pattern and strong moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal are likely to trigger heavy to very heavy rainfall in some districts of south Bengal, the IMD said. It said heavy rainfall is likely over several south Bengal districts from July 4 to 7.
In flood-ravaged Arunachal Pradesh, Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Kiren Rijiju assured the state of the Centre’s full support in undertaking relief, rehabilitation and long-term flood mitigation measures.
Four people have been killed, 21 injured, and two remain missing as heavy rain triggered flash floods and landslides in Arunachal Pradesh over the last seven days, causing widespread damage to houses, roads, bridges and public infrastructure.
Rain also brought much needed relief from the scorching heat across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
In Punjab, showers were reported in Mohali, Kharar, Pathankot, Patiala and Hoshiarpur, while Ambala, Yamunanagar, Sonipat, Hisar, Rohtak and Karnal in Haryana and the Union territory of Chandigarh too witnessed downpour on Wednesday.
In Uttarakhand, where the southwest monsoon has covered most parts of the state, the IMD issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places in Dehradun and Bageshwar districts.
The monsoon reached most parts of the state on Tuesday, bringing widespread relief from the prolonged sultry weather.
Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon is expected to reach Delhi within the next two days, bringing an end to the season’s final spell of summer.
