The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast moderate to heavy rains along with thunderstorms and lightning in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand till Friday, August 25. The updated alert comes even as officials continue to recover more bodies from landslides in the two hill states. A renewed spell of intense rainfall is expected to worsen the situation.
According to a report in The Weather Channel, while the monsoon trough has shifted southwards, near its normal position as expected, a western disturbance is at play this time around.
Western disturbances are storms originating in the Caspian or Mediterranean Sea, and bring non-monsoonal rainfall to northwest India. This particular system exists as a trough and will be active for the next few days, the report stated.
Rain Updates in Points
• According to The Weather Channel, the rainfall is set to intensify during the forecast period. According to the IMD, isolated very heavy rains (115.5 mm-204.5 mm) are likely over Uttarakhand between Tuesday and Friday (August 22-25), Himachal Pradesh until Thursday (August 24) and over northwest Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 22-23).
• The report stated flash flood risks and inundation in low-lying areas of Uttarakhand are also likely during the next 24 hours.
• The Met also warned of moderate risk of flash floods in catchment areas of Himachal’s Chamba and Mandi districts and predicted a wet spell till August 26. Heavy rain can result in landslides, flash floods and increased water levels in rivers and drains, besides causing damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings, the weather office said.
• Besides Uttarakhand and Himachal, similar weather is expected over West Uttar Pradesh until Wednesday, August 23, and East Uttar Pradesh between Tuesday and Friday, August 22-25.
• The IMD has issued rainfall alerts over the above mentioned states for the week, urging residents to beware of the inclement weather. While an orange alert (meaning ‘be prepared’) has been issued over Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh will be given the orange alert on Tuesday and Himachal on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Meanwhile, ten people, who were trapped in the reservoir at the Kol Dam Hydel Project in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, have been rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) after an overnight operation, officials said on Monday. Five employees of the forest department were among the 10 rescued.
• Four persons, including two women and a four-month-old baby, were crushed to death after being hit by a landslide in Chamba in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district on Monday, police said. Tehri Senior Superintendent of Police Navneet Singh Bhullar said the body of a 30-year-old man was pulled out of the debris in the evening, he said. The SP said he was identified as Prakash, a local.
• Bhullar said four bodies have been recovered so far and search is underway for another missing person. Some more vehicles could also be trapped as the landslide hit a taxi stand near the Chamba police station, he said.
• All schools from class 1 to 12 and anganwadi kendras in Bhilangana, Chamba, Narendra Nagar and Jaunpur in Tehri district have been closed on Tuesday on the orders of the DM in view of the MeT department’s heavy rain alert for various parts of the state over the next two days.
(With inputs from PTI)
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