NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has raised a red alert, cautioning against an imminent threat of flash floods across the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Bihar and Sikkim in eastern India, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the south and some parts of Maharashtra. It has asked people to remain vigilant over the next 24 hours as nature prepares to unleash fury.
IMD’s caution applies to Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Lahul and Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, and Sirmaur districts in Himachal and Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, and Uttarkashi districts in Uttarakhand.
The weather office has alerted the Himalayan states, including the Jammu region, of extremely heavy rainfall up to 210 mm in the next day and heavy rain in the next 6-7 days.
Satellite imagery shows scattered to broken intense convective clouds over Uttarakhand and also around Uttarkashi, which may cause cloudburst-induced flash floods.
Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim of east India, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, east and north Telangana and Maharashtra’s Marathwada region may also witness low to moderate flash flood risk. In its bulletin, the IMD said inundation may occur at some saturated soils and low-lying areas over the regions of concern.
The IMD has warned of hefty rainfall in west-central India adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal off north Andhra and south Odisha coasts due to the emergence of a low-pressure area along the Bay of Bengal.
Under its influence, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, Telangana, and Karnataka are more likely to receive hefty rainfall from August 13 to 17.
Fisherfolk have been advised not to venture into the Arabian Sea between August 13 and 18. A similar advice relates to areas along and off the Sri Lankan coast, along and off the Andhra Pradesh coast, and the Odisha coast during the same period.
“Blockbuster monsoon likely in the second fortnight of August,” said Debashish Jena, researcher and agrometeorologist at GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Uttarakhand.