New Delhi:
Monsoon weather has hit India hard as catastrophes triggered by heavy rains are wreaking havoc across the nation.
While landslides killed at least 46 people in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, at least four soldiers and three civilians were killed in Uttarakhand’s Malpa after cloudburst in Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route on Monday morning.
Incessant rainfall caused floods in easter and northeastern states with at least 10 reported deaths in Assam on Sunday.
In Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, a girl was killed and her parents were missing following a landslide on Saturday that buried their house.
Here are the updates:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar conducts aerial survey of flood affected areas pic.twitter.com/RLxcLqAfp3
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2017
#Bihar Teams of National Disaster Response Force arrive in Patna, to leave for flood-affected areas pic.twitter.com/Mw0piZvd9F
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2017
#1:15 PM: All possible support is being provided to Assam for overcoming the flood situation prevailing in parts of the state tweets PM Modi
#1:15 PM: Ever since Assam has witnessed flooding, the Central Government has been closely & constantly monitoring the situation tweets PM Modi
#1:15 PM: PM Modi spoke to Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal yesterday & today regarding the flood situation in the state.
#1:10 PM: Mahananda Express, North East Express, Seemanchal Express, Brahmputra Mail Assam Express & Garib Nawaj Express trains also cancelled.
#1:10 PM: Dibrugarh Rajdhani,Purovotar Sampark Kranti &Amritsar Katihar Express among 11 trains cancelled due to flood after heavy rainfall in Assam
#12:50 PM:Centre assures all support to Bihar Govt to mitigate flood situation. Teams of NDRF are in Bihar for rescue and relief work tweets PM Office
#12:50 PM: PM Narendra Modi speaks to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar regarding the flood situation in parts of the state, says situation being monitored closely
#12:30 PM: Gorakhpur airport closed for now, all flights for/from cancelled as runway gets flooded with water.
#LatestVisuals from Mandi landslide site: 46 bodies have been recovered so far; rescue operations resumed this morning #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/y11nujj5rF
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2017
#BiharFloods : Parts of NH-327 sinks in Supol, cutting off link to Jadia-Triveniganj road https://t.co/7QtDhMeDs3 pic.twitter.com/ak1QqXusyQ
— News Nation (@NewsNationTV) August 14, 2017
#AssamFloods: Assam State Disaster Management Authority says 10 people have died, 21 districts effected; #visuals (August 13) from Kokrajhar pic.twitter.com/80JAmpe33g
— ANI (@ANI)
August 14, 2017
#10:10 PM: Bihar: River Bagmati in Sitamarhi continues to flow in unprecedented flood situation, Gandak in Gopalganj flowing in high flood situation
Himachal Pradesh: Relief materials being distributed in Mandi, 46 bodies were recovered yesterday following landslide in the area. pic.twitter.com/R5cuQP72YM
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2017
#AssamFloods: Heavy rains trigger floods in Himalayan region, water level rising in Brahmaputra &other rivers, visuals from Dibrugarh (13/8) pic.twitter.com/K2RWug6n3C
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2017
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra stopped, 2 bridges damaged in Mangti, 1 in Simkhola, road blocked at Ailagad, Kali river flowing at danger level,
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2017
Uttarakhand: 4 soldiers & 3 civilians missing in Mangti Nala, 3 bodies recovered in Malpa after cloudburst in Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2017
Also read: Himachal Pradesh landslide: 46 killed, several injured; rescue operations to resume today
Himachal Pradesh
A massive landslide, triggered by a cloudburst, in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday night, buried two state roadways buses, killing at least 46 people and injuring several others at Kotpuri near Padhar on the Mandi-Pathankot national highway. According to officials, the toll may cross 50.
The highway have been closed stranding hundreds of vehicles, they said, adding the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Army and the police were rushed to the spot.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who visited the site, said the rescue operation would continue till all bodies were recovered.
State Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased while Transport minister G S Bali said announced that Rs 1 lakh would be given to each bereaved family by the HRTC.In eastern and northeastern states, rains caused havoc, triggering floods in Assam and parts of Bihar and West Bengal.
Also read: Assam deluge: Death toll reaches 89, 11 lakh people affected
Assam Floods
Ten more people died as the flood situation deteriorated in Assam, where 22.5 lakh people were affected in 21 districts and the Army has been called for rescue operations.
With Sunday’s deaths in the second wave of deluge in the state, the toll in this year’s flood-related incidents has gone up to 99, Assam State Disaster Management Authority said, adding the situation is likely to worsen as waters of the Brahmaputra and 10 other rivers were flowing above the danger mark at 15 places.
Most of the forest areas in Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Lawkhua wildlife sanctuary were under flood waters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called up Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who toured various flood-affected areas in Dibrugarh district, an official release said.
The prime minister expressed concern and assured all possible help and support to the state government in handling the situation, it said.
Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Shamsher Singh said the waters of the Brahmaputra river breached a crucial dyke at Hatimura inundating vast areas of the district.
Dhubri was the worst-affected with 3.98 lakh people affected, followed by Morigaon with 3.14 lakh people.
Chief Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway Pranav Jyoti Sharma said 22 trains have been cancelled while 14 others were stranded at various places as the tracks are flooded at places across the northeast.
Also read: Bihar floods: Army, NDRF deployed in affected region; five trains cancelled in Kishanganj
Bihar Floods
Incessant rains in the past three days in Terai regions of Nepal coupled with heavy rainfall since Saturday in Seemanchal area have caused floods in Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar districts of Bihar.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and discussed the flood situation in the state where nearly 320 NDRF personnel have been rushed.
“The Centre is rushing additional NDRF teams to Bihar to help the ongoing rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected region of the state,” Singh said in a tweet.
Kishanganj district is the worst affected, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, adding that he has spoken to the prime minister, the union home minister and the defence minister over phone and requested them to help the state in dealing with the situation.
A home ministry official said seven teams of the NDRF have already reached the affected areas in the state.
Birpur in Supaul district received 45 cm rainfall, followed by Gaunaha and Bagaha in West Champaran 37 cm each and Bahadurganj in Kishanganj district 36 cm of precipitation.
Also read: West Bengal floods: Death toll rises to 50; Ghatal, Dhaniakhali areas worst affected
West Bengal floods
Sub-Himalayan districts of West Bengal also received heavy rains causing floods-like situation in the region.
Due to the flood situation in Northeast Frontier Railway jurisdiction, many north Bengal-bound trains originating from Sealdah and Howrah that were delayed, have been terminated at various stations, the Eastern Railway said in a statement.
Rest of the country
Meanwhile, the national capital witnessed partly clear skies with no rains, though overcast conditions prevailed in some areas.
The maximum and minimum temperatures were 34.9 degrees Celsius and 27.3 degrees Celsius respectively while relative humidity levels oscillated between 57 and 79 per cent.
Humid conditions prevailed in most parts of Punjab and Haryana with maximum temperatures hovering around normal at most places in both the states.Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, recorded a maximum temperature of 34.4 degrees Celsius while Ambala in Haryana registered a high of 34.6 degrees Celsius and Hisar’s maximum was 37.2 degrees Celsius.
In Punjab, Amritsar and Ludhiana both recorded maximum temperatures of 35.8 degrees Celsius.
Rainfall occurred in parts of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha but there was no significant change in maximum and minimum temperatures.Yavatmal in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region recorded a maximum temperature of 34 degrees Celsius.
