Weather News: 9 Dead In UP, 5 In Rajasthan, Traffic Snarls Hit Assam's Guwahati After Heavy Rains

Parts of India continue to reel under severe monsoon rains and rain-related woes, including cloudbursts, floods, landslides, waterlogging and even deaths. While cloudbursts have led to devastation in the northern hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, flood-like situation has led to disruptions in daily life of people in parts of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and several other states.

Nine people died in rain-related incidents in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh within 24 hours till Monday evening, the state's relief commissioner's office said. In Uttarakhand, more than 1,400 people stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Kedarnath were evacuated to safety on Monday as the rescue operations entered its fifth day.

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• Himachal Pradesh: The meteorological centre in Shimla issued an 'orange' alert of heavy to very heavy rains, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places in Una, Kangra and Sirmaur districts of Himachal Pardesh on Wednesday and 'yellow' alert for heavy rain at isolated places in the state till August 9.

Flash floods and landslides triggered by days of heavy rains led to the closure of 75 roads in different parts of Himachal, the state emergency operation centre said on Monday evening. The hill state has been pounded by heavy rains for almost a week. Fourteen people died in flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts on July 31 and 40 are still missing.

• Uttarakhand: More than 1,400 people stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Kedarnath were evacuated to safety on Monday as the rescue operations entered the fifth day. The Indian Air Force's (IAF) Chinook and MI17 helicopters aided in the evacuation of pilgrims that was earlier being done largely by small helicopters, officials cited by news agency PTI said.

Heavy rainfall and a cloudburst on July 31 washed away the Kedarnath trek route at many places, including Lincholi, Bhimbali, Ghorapadav and Rambada, stranding pilgrims to the Himalayan shrine. The route was also damaged at other places due to landslides.

While 136 pilgrims were rescued by IAF and state helicopters, 509 were brought to Lincholi on foot from Kedarnath and sent in helicopters to Chardham and Shersi helipads, Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said. Apart from them, 584 people were rescued from Gaurikund via Sonprayag and 172 others via Chaumasi, he said, adding that Most of the pilgrims have been brought to safety from Lincholi, Bhimbali and Gaurikund. More than 11,775 people have been shifted to safe places since the start of the rescue operations last Thursday.

• Uttar Pradesh: Nine people died in rain-related incidents in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh within 24 hours till Monday evening, the state's relief commissioner's office said. Seven people died by drowning while two lost their lives in snakebites, it said.

While the deaths due to snakebite were reported from Banda and Pratapgarh districts, Shamli and Kushinagar each recorded two cases of drowning while Balrampur and Chitrakoot each reported one death by drowning.

Relief Commissioner GS Naveen Kumar said Uttar Pradesh received 3.7 mm of rain in the 24-hour period. The state received an average rainfall of 344.7 mm from June 1 till now, which is 87.5 per cent of the normal rainfall of 394.1 mm, according to a statement.

• Karnataka: Heavy rains on Monday evening caused waterlogging and traffic jams in many parts of Karnataka's Bengaluru. According to reports, the Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Nagavara and Hebbal; Hebbal Junction, the key intersection between the city and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), along with many localities in the city's core, reported intense flooding. Traffic movement to and from the Kempegowda airport was also disrupted.

Meanwhile, a week after massive landslides hit this north Kerala district killing hundreds, the search operations on Tuesday will be more concentrated on the Chaliyar river basin with a special team on helicopter scanning the waterbody for bodies or remains, the district administration said. District Collector Meghashree DR told reporters that the search operations will be concentrated on the river near the school, village and downstream areas.

• Maharashtra: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday inspected the flood-hit areas of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad and listened to grievances of people. He toured areas like Sangavi in Pimpri Chinchwad as well as Patil Estate in Shivajinagar and Ekta Nagar in Sinhgad Road area in Pune.

Teams of the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and civic administration personnel have been deployed at Ekta Nagar since it is prone to flooding.

Low-lying areas of Ekta Nagar along Mutha river were inundated after water was discharged from Khadakwasla dam due to heavy rains in the catchment areas.

• Delhi: The city recorded a minimum temperature of 26.6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with the weather office forecasting rain and thunderstorms during the day. The weather department has put Delhi on "yellow alert" (be prepared) for rainfall for the next three days. The maximum temperature likely to settle around 34 degrees Celsius.

• Rajasthan: Five people were killed and one went missing in accidents caused by heavy rain which lashed several parts of Rajasthan on Monday, police said. According to the MeT department, many places in Tonk, Pali, Bundi, and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan saw heavy rain in the last 24 hours.

Water on tracks hampered the rail movement at some places.

Thirteen workers got buried under debris when the wall of a factory collapsed in the Boranada area of Jodhpur. Three of them died on the spot, police said. In Pali, a bike rider was swept away in a strong current and died. His body was found in the bushes 3 kilometres away, police said.

Geeta Devi died when a kutcha house collapsed on her in Sojat area, they said. A man, out on a picnic with his friends, fell 150 feet down in Menal waterfall in Bijolia of Bhilwara while taking a selfie. He is yet to be found and is being looked for, police said.

• Assam: Heavy rain lashed Assam’s capital Guwahati on Monday, leading to waterlogging in several areas, inconveniencing commuters and school students who were stuck for hours in traffic jams. Accumulation of water was reported from almost all peripheral roads in the city, with people stranded in their vehicles for hours amid heavy traffic.

People returning from office, school children and even ambulances were reportedly stuck till late in the evening due to inundated roads.

The Kamrup Metropolitan administration, which primarily comprises the Guwahati city, ordered the closure of all educational institutions on Tuesday in the wake of inclement weather. In view of the flash flood caused by heavy rains in Guwahati City, all educational institutes, both govt and private, including colleges, coaching centres will remain closed tomorrow within the Guwahati Municipal Corporation area," an official communique said.