Floodwater engulfs a locality after heavy showers of rain, in Mandi on Saturday | Photo: ANI
Heavy monsoon rains have wreaked havoc in multiple states in the last 24 hours. At least 31 people have lost their lives, with 22 deaths reported from Himachal Pradesh alone. 4 people each have died in Uttarakhand and Odisha while three deaths were reported from Jharkhand.
Heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh since Friday caused 36 incidents of cloudburst, landslides and flashfloods, with officials saying 22 people, including eight members of a family, died. Ten people were injured in the state which has reported 36 weather-related incidents. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued a red alert warning for four districts of Madhya Pradesh, predicting very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the region.
In Himachal, as many as 743 roads were disrupted by flash floods and landslides after heavy downpour. This included the Manali-Chandigarh national highway at Mandi and the Shimla-Chandigarh highway at Shoghi. A railway bridge over Chakki river at HP-Punjab border also collapsed, disrupting train services. The highest toll occurred in HP’s Mandi where 13 died and 6 more are feared dead.
A series of cloudbursts on Saturday killed four people in Uttarakhand. An additional 10 are missing. Bridges were washed away as rivers breached banks. Multiple villages have been forced to evacuate.
Rishikesh-Badrinath highway and the Rishikesh-Gangotri highway were blocked at places.
In Odisha, 4 died as the state continues to struggle with Mahanadi river system’s flooding. 4 lakh people in 500 villages have been marooned in the state. With supply chains disrupted, vegetable prices have shot up in Bhubaneswar markets. Balasore, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj received heavy rainfall.
Heavy rains with high wind speeds uprooted several electricity poles and trees in Jharkhand where three persons died and low-lying areas in several districts were submerged.
Meanwhile, isolated extremely heavy rainfall is forecasted over West Madhya Pradesh on Sunday and East Rajasthan on Monday.
A red alert warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall was issued by IMD in four districts of MP – Narsinghpur, Damoh, Sagar and Chhatarpur – till Sunday evening. Orange alert for likely heavy to very heavy showers at isolated places is issued in Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Rewa, Gwalior, Chambal and 18 more districts, including Jabalpur.
For Himachal Pradesh, IMD predicted moderate to heavy rainfall and has issued ‘Orange alert’ for next 12 hours.
(With inputs from agencies)