New Delhi: 15 dead as heavy rains lash N India

New Delhi: Torrential rains pounded several parts of north India on Sunday with 15 people killed in landslides and other rain-related incidents, while most rivers, including Yamuna in Delhi, were in spate.

In cities and towns across the region, many roads and residential areas were submerged in knee-deep water with the civic system unable to hold on in the face of record rains.

Flash floods washed away roads in hilly areas, leaving people marooned, while authorities asked tourists to plan their visit after the weather improves.

Railway services have also been hit. The Northern Railways said it has cancelled around 17 trains and diverted around 12 others, while traffic has been suspended at four locations due to waterlogging.

Heavy downpour warnings have been issued for certain areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, while in Delhi, which recorded its highest rainfall in a single day in July since 1982, authorities have cautioned over rising water level of the Yamuna.

While Delhi received 153 mm of rain in 24 hours ending 8:30 on Sunday, Chandigarh and Ambala in Haryana reported record rainfall of 322.2 mm and 224.1 mm respectively, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

In three separate incidents of landslides in Himachal Pradesh, where a red alert of extremely heavy rains has been issued for seven districts, five people were killed.

Three members of a family were killed in a house collapse following a landslide in Shimla district’s Kotgarh area, while one death each was reported from Kullu and Chamba districts.

Fourteen major landslides and 13 flash floods have been reported in the past 36 hours while over 700 roads have been closed, according to the Himachal Pradesh emergency operation centre. In neighbouring Uttarakhand, three pilgrims drowned in the Ganga after their jeep fell into the river amid a landslide near Gular on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway.

State Disaster Response Force and police officials said there were 11 people in the jeep. Five people have been rescued, while a search is on for three others, they said and added that three bodies have been recovered by rescue personnel.

In the Kashipur area of the state, two houses collapsed killing a couple and injuring their granddaughter. Two persons were also killed in Jammu and Kashmir after a landslide hit a passenger bus in Doda district. Bodies of two soldiers, who were swept away by flash floods while crossing the Dogra Nallah on Saturday, were recovered in Poonch district of the Union Territory.

However, there was some relief in Srinagar from heavy downpour and the yatra to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath resumed on Sunday from the Panjtarni and the Sheshnag base camps after remaining suspended for three days. There were also reports of snowfall from high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh, where a red alert has been issued for heavy rains.

Red alert has been issued for Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua and Samba districts along with lower catchment areas with reports of water level in rivers and streams crossing the danger mark.

In hill states, flash floods stranded many with about 200 people marooned in Chandratal in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti, and a part of the Chandigarh-Manali highway washed away by the surging waters of the Beas river. Landslides and cave-ins due to these floods have also led to villages in mountainous regions in Uttarakhand becoming inaccessible by road.

In Himachal Pradesh, there were also reports of shops being swept away in Manali, and vehicles being washed away in flash floods at Nullah in Kullu, Kinnaur and Chamba. Heavy monsoon rains in several parts of Punjab and Haryana led to massive waterlogging and flooding in low-lying areas, prompting authorities to swing into action in the worst-hit places.

The Punjab government has directed ministers, deputy commissioners, senior superintendents of police and other officials concerned to visit the affected areas and provide the required assistance to people.

In Haryana, a flood control room has been established amid three rivers Markanda, Ghaggar and Tangri flowing close to the danger mark.

Heavy rainfall led to severe waterlogging and traffic congestion in several parts of Gurugram in the state with the administration advising corporate houses to work from home on Monday and schools to announce a holiday.