NEW DELHI, July 20: A person death in a cloudburst incident was reported in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday as heavy rains lashed many parts of western India, affecting normal life in Mumbai and Nagpur.
While Mumbai received intermittent spells of rainfall, parts of the city were waterlogged but local trains operated normally. A high tide of 3.66 metres is expected at 11.18 pm, a weather official said.
The city received 91 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending 8 am on Saturday, while its eastern and western suburbs recorded 87 mm and 93 mm rainfall respectively, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
In the last 24 hours, Vidarbha (Maharashtra), Dwarka (Gujarat), Bijapur (Chhatisgarh), Malkangiri (Odisha), Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Shivamogga (Karnataka) received the maximum rainfall, according to the met department.
The IMD issued a red alert in several states, including Gujarat and the Konkan region on Saturday, while an orange alert was issued for coastal Karnataka and Telangana.
In Nagpur, very heavy rains during a 3-hour spell in the morning disrupted normal life as water entered low-lying areas, prompting the authorities to move people to safer places and declare a holiday for schools and colleges for the day as a precautionary measure.
Around 50 students were stuck in their college in Hudkeshwar Nagar area of the city due to flooding, but were rescued later, officials said.
The IMD predicted heavy rainfall, with the possibility of extremely heavy showers at isolated places in Nagpur and other districts of Vidarbha region over the next two days and advised people not to step out of their homes unless necessary.
The IMD has forecast light to moderate rain or thundershowers in most places in Telangana and warned of heavy to very heavy rains likely to occur at isolated places in 10 districts of the state.
The weather bulletin warned that heavy to very heavy rain was very likely to occur at isolated places in Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Jagital, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam, Mahabubabad, Warangal and Hanamkonda districts of the state from 1 pm of Saturday till 8.30 am of July 21.
Heavy rain was very likely to occur at isolated places in Adilabad, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar and Peddapalli districts, it said.
Odisha experienced heavy rainfall on Saturday as a depression over the Bay of Bengal crossed the coast near Chilika Lake, officials said. At least 23 families were moved to safety from vulnerable areas in Malkangiri district, which received heavy rainfall.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast more rain over the next five days.
The met department in Bhubaneswar said Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district received the highest rainfall of 220.5 mm, followed by 217 mm at Korkunda in the same district. Many parts of Malkangiri district have been inundated.
The weather department warned of temporary waterlogging in low-lying areas, poor visibility during intense rain and traffic congestion in urban areas.
In Himachal Pradesh, one person was washed away as a cloudburst incident took place in Raitua village in Himachal’s Sirmaur district late Friday night. Since the onset of monsoon on June 27, 40 persons have died in rain-related incidents in the state
The state’s Met office on Saturday warned of moderate flash floods risk in few areas in Sirmaur and Shimla districts in the next 24 hours and issued an orange warning of heavy to very heavy rains, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated areas in the state on July 23.
The weather office issued a red alert in Uttarakhand for Sunday and Monday and said parts of the state are likely to receive extremely heavy rainfall in the period. (PTI)
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