Monsoon mayhem in India: The Monsoon has created havoc across India, with Mumbai recording extremely heavy rainfall, the water level of the Saryu river rising in Ayodhya, an orange alert issued for Karnataka, and Assam grappling with floods again.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for several states, including Karnataka, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra on July 9. Additionally, an orange alert has been issued for Assam and Meghalaya.
Since Monday morning, heavy rain in Mumbai has been causing waterlogging, long traffic jams, and disruptions to local train services and flight operations. The downpours are expected to continue this week. Schools and junior colleges in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Pune, and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg will remain closed.
Besides Mumbai, IMD forecasted heavy to moderate rainfall in Palghar, Thane, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Nasik, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Sangli, Sholapur, Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Beed, Hingoli, Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad, Akola, Amravati, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Nagpur, Wardha, Washim and Yavatmal up to July 12.
The water level of Ayodhya's Saryu River has risen close to the danger mark due to heavy rainfall in the temple city of Uttar Pradesh. Devotees from different parts of the country visit Ayodhya to glimpse Ram Lalla and take a holy dip in the Saryu River.
“...The water level is rising due to heavy rainfall in hills and plains. Large quantities of water are also being released from barrage...The water level is likely to further rise...People have been requested to not enter river…,” said Central Water Commission (Ayodhya) Junior Engineer Aman Chaudhary.
Another six people died in Assam in the last 24 hours on Monday taking the flood-related deaths in the state in this year's flood to 72. On Sunday, eight people, including three children, died after drowning in flood waters in the state in the last 24 hours, and the death toll mounted to 66.
The flood situation in the state on Sunday is still critical in a few districts. Over 22.74 lakh people in 28 districts are still affected by the deluge. More than 3.69 lakh people have taken shelter in 630 relief camps, and the administration has set up distribution centres in 26 districts.
The Dakshina Kannada district administration has issued a 'red alert' for Tuesday with the Met department predicting heavy rainfall. Schools and colleges would remain closed on Tuesday (July 9), it said.
Heavy rainfall continued to lash parts of Mangaluru. An orange alert was issued for the district. Taluk administration has declared a holiday for schools and colleges in Mangaluru.
The Meteorological Centre in Uttarakhand has predicted heavy rainfall over several parts of the state until July 10. The weather office has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in many places, with extremely heavy rainfall in isolated areas in the Kumaon region.
“...Kumaon has received heavy rainfall in the past 4 days. The water level started rising since last evening. Warning announcements were made too. It rained very heavily this morning. In Banbasa, it received 430 mm rainfall in last 24 hours. It was reviewed at the CM-level this morning...A rescue operation was carried out this morning...Around 400 evacuations were done…,” said Kumaon Commissioner Deepak Rawat.
The state government has appealed to all residents to stay in safe areas and remain cautious due to the potential disasters caused by heavy rains.
(With inputs from agencies)
