NEW DELHI: Rain continued to wreak havoc across the country on Friday, with more landslides in the hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh blocking crucial highways, and flooded rivers in the northeastern states forcing authorities to evacuate people to safer areas.
At least five more people died in incidents related to rain, even as parts of the country, including Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan, saw a dry day after days of incessant heavy showers.
In Himachal Pradesh, heavy to extremely heavy rains disrupted normal life in many parts, blocking roads, damaging bridges and uprooting trees. Schools remained closed in many parts of the state.
A 70-year-old man was killed after being hit by falling boulders from the hillside onto the Buanda-Chwai road in Kullu. In Solan district, two persons sustained injuries after a boulder hit their vehicle in the Arki area.
In Shimla, commuters faced inconvenience as 27 link roads were closed for vehicular traffic, officials said.
Incidents of rockfall were reported along the Kalka-Shimla National Highway, and between Waknaghat and Kandaghat, and between Dharampur and Chakki Mod. A landslide threat looms over the Sangla bridge in Kinnaur district, which was constructed last year with the assistance of the BRO and the Indian Army, and any further damage to it could cut off Sangla Valley, officials said.
Sirmaur and Solan districts received the most rain since Thursday evening, the local met department said.
In Uttarakhand, a teenager died, several people were injured, and schools were closed on Friday as heavy rain battered Uttarakhand over the past 24 hours, triggering landslides and blocking 118 roads across the state, including the Yamunotri National Highway.
Officials said that they have stepped up vigilance following the Meteorological Department's forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall.
A 100-meter stretch of the Yamunotri National Highway near Syanachatti in Uttarkashi district was damaged by a landslide, and repair work is in progress at the spot.
The Gangotri National Highway faced frequent disruptions due to falling boulders and stones at Nagun and Nalu Pani.
Continuous rainfall also caused Ganga, Yamuna, and their tributaries—along with several smaller rivers—to swell.
Flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall inundated the Ari area of Mendhar sub-division in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, damaging several houses and leaving dozens of people stranded.
Police personnel launched a rescue operation and safely evacuated at least 25 people as floodwaters entered the area, officials said.
In Mizoram's Lunglei district bordering Bangladesh, over 80 families were evacuated to safer locations after the Khawthlangtuipui river overflowed following incessant rainfall over the past week, officials said.
Landslides, rockfalls and other rain-related incidents have also been reported at more than 29 locations across the state, though no casualty or loss of life has been reported so far, they said.
National Highway 54 has been blocked due to a massive landslide on the outskirts of Bualte village in Lunglei district, where several tourists have been stranded for the past four days.
The landslide continues to cut off the southern districts of Lawngtlai and Siaha from the rest of the state.
The Aizawl-Thenzawl-Lunglei highway has also been blocked due to massive rockfall or landslides at Ngaizel on the southern outskirts of Aizawl, officials said.
Heavy downpour for the past few days triggered floods in parts of Tripura, damaging over 4,000 houses and forcing around 11,000 people to seek refuge in relief camps, an official said. No loss of life has been reported till now.
In Uttar Pradesh, two people died in rain-related incidents as many parts of the state saw heavy showers.
Mawana in Meerut district recorded the state's highest rainfall of 315 mm during the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am, followed by Jansath in Muzaffarnagar with 270.1 mm.
According to the IMD, the southwest monsoon has intensified over Uttar Pradesh due to the presence of an upper-air cyclonic circulation over the central parts of the state and a well-marked low-pressure area over northwest Madhya Pradesh.
The IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre in Lucknow issued an orange alert for the state, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall at many places till July 11 under the influence of active monsoon conditions.
In Noida, a 28-year-old man died allegedly after falling into a roadside drain filled with rainwater while on his way to work in Sector 58. A 60-year-old woman was killed and her husband was injured after their mud house collapsed during heavy rain in Muzaffarnagar district. A 21-year-old farmer died after being struck by lightning in a paddy field in Balrampur, officials said on Friday.
In Delhi, after two days of incessant rainfall, the skies were clear in the city and weather experts said the city is likely to witness a dry and warmer week, with the monsoon expected to pick up again in the month.
Mahesh Palawat from Skymet Weather said rainfall activity is expected to remain subdued in Delhi until July 15 because the seasonal trough has shifted towards the Himalayan foothills.
The weather office in Rajasthan, too, predicted that the monsoon is expected to weaken over the state from Friday, bringing a pause to the ongoing spell of heavy rainfall in the state.
Weak monsoon conditions are likely to prevail across the state from July 10-11 and continue for about a week. During this period, the weather is expected to remain largely dry over most parts of Rajasthan, with only isolated places likely to receive light rainfall.
Heavy showers lashed a large part of West Bengal, with Cooch Behar in the northern parts of the state receiving the highest 143 mm of rain in 24 hours till Friday morning.
School and office-goers faced a harrowing time in the rain-drenched Kolkata as rains continued well past the morning, causing waterlogging and slowing down traffic in several parts of the city, including its IT hub of Sector V in the Salt Lake area.
Dum Dum, where the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport is located, recorded south Bengal's highest rainfall at 96 mm, according to weather office data.
In Arunachal Pradesh, houses, roads and crops were damaged as fresh floods and landslides were reported across three districts -- West Kameng, Upper Subansiri and Tirap -- in the last 24 hours.
The death toll in the current wave of floods in Arunachal Pradesh has risen to seven after the body of a woman, who had gone missing, was recovered in Papum Pare district.
The Assam disaster management authorities urged people to take precautions following the IMD's prediction of widespread rainfall across the state, including Guwahati, from Friday and for the next few days.
This may cause waterlogging, flash floods, slow vehicular movement, and increase the risk of localised landslides in vulnerable pockets.
The IMD, in its bulletin on Friday, said fairly widespread to widespread rainfall was likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura between July 10-16. It added that subdued rainfall activity was likely over central and south Peninsular India during the next 6-7 days.
Rains lashed parts of Haryana and Punjab, too, with Chandigarh receiving light showers during the day.
At the Wayanad landslide site in Kerala, one more body was retrieved, taking the total number of persons killed in the disaster to seven.
