A FRESH spell of rain lashed several parts of flood-hit Punjab and Haryana where swollen rivers have inundated large tracts of land and disrupted normal life, officials said on Tuesday. According to the weather department, several places in the two states received rain during the 24-hour period ending 8:30 am Tuesday. Among other places in Punjab, Amritsar received 18.3 mm rain, Patiala 70.5 mm, Bathinda 5 mm, Faridkot 1 mm, Gurdaspur 32.8 mm, Mansa 10 mm while Mohali had 44.5 mm rain.

 

Among other places in Haryana, during past 24 hours, Gurugram received 81 mm rain, Ambala 32.2 mm, Hisar 35.1 mm, Karnal 23.6 mm, Narnaul 32 mm, Rohtak 42.2 mm, Nuh 57 mm, Panchkula 40 mm while Sirsa had 24.5 mm rain.Chandigarh received 40.8 mm rain during this period. Punjab is under the grip of massive floods, caused by the swollen Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers and seasonal rivulets due to heavy rain in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Villages worst-affected by the floods were in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar districts. Relief and rescue operations by the NDRF, Army, BSF, Punjab Police and district authorities are underway in the affected areas.

 

The Punjab Government had on Monday announced closure of all colleges, universities and polytechnic institutes till September 3 in the wake of continuous heavy rainfall across the State. In view of the inclement weather, all schools of UT Chandigarh shall remain closed for academic purposes on September 2, an official statement by the UT administration had said on Monday. In Haryana too, as a precautionary measure, schools have been ordered to remain closed on Tuesday in some affected areas. Incessant rains over the past few days have led to an increase in the water levels of some rivers, including the Yamuna, prompting Haryana authorities to open the floodgates of the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar district on Monday.

 

The Hathnikund barrage discharged 3,29,313 cusec of water at 9 am on Monday. The flow of water in the Yamuna at the Hathnikund barrage on Monday was the highest recorded so far this monsoon. On Tuesday morning, it received a discharge of 1.76 lakh cusecs from the Barrage. Officials said an alert had already been sounded and a strict vigil is being kept on villages falling in the catchment areas of the Yamuna in the district and some other districts, including Panipat, Sonipat and Faridabad. Yamuna water enters houses as river crosses danger mark WITH the Yamuna crossing the danger mark on Tuesday, water began entering houses in parts of the Trans-Yamuna area of Delhi. The river crossed the danger level in the morning, posing a flood threat to low-lying areas of the capital. After overnight rain, residents of several parts of Delhi woke up to waterlogged streets and flooded homes. Areas such as Mayur Vihar and nearby localities in the Trans-Yamuna region were among those affected. Officials said the Yamuna was flowing at 205.80 metres at the Old Yamuna Bridge (OYB) at 8 am, above the danger mark of 205.33 metres. According to an update shared at 8 am, the river received a discharge of 1.76 lakh cusecs from Hathni Kund Barrage, 69,210 cusec from Wazirabad Barrage, and 73,619 from Okhla Barrage Authorities have been making announcements from boats, asking people living near the riverbanks to evacuate.

 

“We are constantly urging residents to vacate areas at risk of flooding. All district magistrates have been directed to remain prepared for any flood-like situation,” an official told. Trains stopped, 6 national highways blocked in Himachal TRAIN service was suspended, 1,311 roads, including six national highways, were closed, and schools were shut as heavy rainfall on Tuesday sent normal life in disarray in Himachal Pradesh. The local Met Office has issued a red alert, warning of extremely heavy rain in isolated areas of the state for the day, and an orange warning of heavy to very heavy rain next day. Of 1,305 roads, 289 roads are closed in Mandi, 241 in Shimla, 239 in Chamba, 169 in Kulku and 127 in Sirmaur district. NH 3, NH 305, NH 5, NH 21, NH 505 and NH 707 were blocked, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said. The situation is worse in interior areas where the link roads are blocked for several days. On Monday, trains plying on the Shimla-Kalka track were cancelled. The service will remain suspended till September 5, officials said. An under-construction house was damaged following a landslide in the Anni area of Kullu district. No casualty was reported as the house had been announced endangered during the 2023 monsoon disaster and was vacated. On Monday, schools and colleges in nine districts were ordered shut under the Disaster Management act.

 

All educational institutions remained closed in Shimla, Kangra, Sirmaur, Una, Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Lahaul and Spiti and Solan districts besides Banjar, Kullu and Manali sub-division of Kullu district on Tuesday. Efforts are afoot to send about 5,000 Manimahesh pilgrims struck in Chamba district back home, officials said. Sixteen pilgrims have died since the yatra started on August 15, officials said. Naina Devi has received 198.2 mm of rain since Monday evening, the highest in the State. Rohru got 80 mm of rain, Jot 61.2 mm, Baggi 58.5 mm, Kukumseri 55.2 mm, Nadaun 53 mm, Olinda 50 mm, Nangal Dam 49.8 mm, Una 49 mm, Bhuntar 47.7 mm, Sarahan 47.5 mm, Banjar 42 mm, and Bilaspur 40.2 mm of it. At least 327 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents, while 41 are missing since monsoon began, SEOC data showed. As many as 3,263 power transformers and 858 water supply schemes were disrupted across the state on Monday, SEOC said. Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal on June 20, the State has witnessed 95 flash floods, 45 cloudbursts and 115 major landslide incidents. The State has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3,158 crore this monsoon so far, according to official data. 

 

 

HEAVY rain lashed Odisha due to the formation of a fresh low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, and the state will get more downpour in the next four days, IMD said. As the sea condition is very likely to be rough during Tuesday and Wednesday, the IMD has cautioned fishermen not to venture into the sea along and off Odisha coast till September 3. The IMD in a statement said: “Under the influence of the upper air cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal and adjoining Myanmar coast, a low-pressure area has formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal at 5.30 am on September 2. It is likely to become more marked over the same region during the next 24 hours.”

 

The weather office also said that the system will move west-northwestwards thereafter across Odisha during the subsequent 24 hours. The entire coastal Odisha has been hit by heavy rain, and normal life has been affected since Monday night. Many urban pockets, including the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, reported waterlogging. As rainwater inundated a bridge at Kangurkonda between Malkangiri and Motu, road communication to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has been disrupted. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the bridge, a Revenue Department official said. The IMD issued an ‘Orange’ warning of heavy to very heavy rain and thunderstorms with lightning accompanied by gusty surface wind speed reaching 30-40 kmph over the districts of Malkangiri and Koraput. The weather office issued a ‘Yellow’ warning, cautioning administration of heavy rain and thunderstorm with lightning accompanied by gusty surface wind speed reaching 30-40 kmph, very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Koraput, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sundargarh, Bargarh, and Jharsuguda. It also warned of light to moderate rain in 22 other districts.

 

 

TRAFFIC on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended again on Tuesday as torrential rain led to mudslides and boulders sliding off slopes at several places on the 250-km road linking the Valley to the rest of the country. The traffic on the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, was suspended after mudslides and shooting of stones at various places between Samroli and Banihal sector, officials said. In a forecast issued on Monday evening, a spokesman of the Meteorological Department predicted moderate to heavy rainfall in most parts of Jammu division on September 2 and 3. “There is a possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall over Kathua, Jammu, Udhampur and Reasi and moderate to heavy rainfall over Doda, Samba, Rajouri, Poonch, Ramban, Kishtwar in Jammu region and Anantnag and Kulgam in south Kashmir mainly towards late night of September 2 or early morning of September 3 till late afternoon,” the spokesman said.

 

There is a possibility of cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides or shooting of stones from hillocks at many vulnerable places and rise in water level in rivers and streams, he said, asking people to stay away from water bodies and avoid landslide-prone areas. The highway was opened for partial traffic only on Monday after remaining closed for six days and accordingly most of the stranded traffic, including trucks carrying essential commodities to Kashmir were cleared, the officials said. The downpour was continuing in most parts of Jammu region when last reports were received, they said. According to the MET department, Kathua district recorded the highest 25.2 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am Tuesday followed by Jammu (17.8 mm), Batote in Ramban (17.6 mm) and Katra (15.8 mm). In Kashmir valley, Qazigund along Jammu-Srinagar national highway recorded overnight rainfall of 23.2 mm, Gulmarg in north Kashmir (14.8 mm), Pahalgam in south Kashmir (11.4 mm) and Srinagar (6.1 mm), the spokesman said. However, the rains stopped before the start of the dawn and later the morning sun shone brightly in the valley.