Team News Riveting
Shimla/New Delhi, July 10
Unabated rains for the last three days had created havoc in many parts of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, inundated low-lying areas and prompting authorities to swing into action in the worst-hit places.
Himachal Pradesh remains the worst affected. A cloudburst on Monday triggered a major landslide in Solan’s Chewa village while a flash flood hitting Thunag area in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi. Scary visuals showed heavy damage to shops and houses due to cloudburst in Thunag. A new video has surfaced online that shows rainwater rushing down from the hills onto the road In Mandi’s Thunag Bazaar with huge tree logs along with muddy water.
The weather office has issued a red alert for about 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh, warning of extremely heavy rain over the next couple of days. It added that an interaction between a western disturbance and monsoonal winds is leading to an intense rainfall spell over northwest India.
Nineteen people have lost their lives–nine in Himachal alone–as the record rainfall wreaked havoc, triggering flash floods and landslides, causing extensive damage to infrastructure.
The national capital broke four decades record in rainfall propelling Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue yellow alert on Monday. The initial monsoon downpour wreaked havoc in both residential and commercial areas of Delhi on Saturday and Sunday while breaking a 41-year record, as the capital recorded 153 mm of rain in 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday, the highest in a single day in July since 1982, the IMD said.
Schools in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have been closed and the Army put on alert as torrential rains battered north India.
