Traffic hit, schools shut as monsoon unleashes fury in Indian cities; Uttarakhand, UP on alert

Torrential rains wreaked havoc across several Indian cities, causing deaths, flooding roads, and prompting authorities to shut educational institutions, as the Southwest Monsoon covered the entire country with signs of more showers.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast widespread rainfall across several states in the coming days. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are expected to witness another round of intense showers. The weathermen, however, predict Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to see a considerable reduction in rainfall activity on Friday (July 10).

Brief let-up for Delhi, red alert in UP

On Friday morning, Delhiites breathed a sigh of relief after a brief let-up in rain that lashed the national capital for two days in a row. The IMD has issued an orange alert for Delhi while warning that rainfall will continue on Friday and relief can only be expected from July 11 onwards.

A red alert is in place for several cities of Uttar Pradesh, which has been hit hard by monsoon fury and reported seven deaths so far.

The deaths were reported from Sant Kabir Nagar, Kushinagar, Bulandshahr, Shamli and Ghaziabad in separate rain-related incidents, officials said.

Also read: Delhi rain: IMD issues red alert as heavy showers trigger waterlogging, traffic chaos

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre, Lucknow, very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is likely in Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Sambhal and Badaun districts, while heavy to very heavy rainfall has been forecast for several other districts in western and central Uttar Pradesh.

The weather office said widespread rainfall activity is expected across the state till July 11, with temperatures likely to fall by 2-4 degrees Celsius over the next two to three days.

Schools closed in Ghaziabad

Heavy rain disrupted normal life in Noida and neighbouring Ghaziabad, leading to widespread waterlogging, traffic snarls and a road cave-in in Vasundhara Sector 13.

Noida has been witnessing severe waterlogging with rainwater flooding roads, vehicles breaking down and traffic coming to a standstill.

With Ghaziabad dealing with a similar predicament, the district administration on Thursday evening ordered the closure of all schools across boards on Friday in view of the IMD's forecast of heavy rainfall.

Also read: Southwest monsoon covers entire country, one day behind schedule

The IMD said monsoon activity has strengthened due to the movement of a low-pressure system over northwest Madhya Pradesh and an associated upper-air cyclonic circulation, which is expected to move north-northeastwards over the next 24 hours, enhancing rainfall across Uttar Pradesh.

Flood, heavy rain alert in Uttarakhand

In the hill state which is battling landslides, flash floods and flooded rivers brought about by an intense spell of rainfall, the IMD has issued a red alert for Friday.

Authorities have announced the closure of schools in the Rudraprayag region.

While the rivers Alakananda and Mandakini are overflowing and are closing in on the danger mark, the rainfall has disrupted vehicle movement on 107 routes across the state.

Also read: Monsoon fury batters several states, disrupts normal life across north, west India

The IMD has warned of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall as well as very intense to extremely intense spells of rain at isolated places in Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, and Champawat districts.

A flash flood alert has also been sounded for the Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garwal and Uttarkashi.

Heavy rain in Himachal's Sirmaur; schools shut today

Heavy rains, which have been battering Himachal Pradesh for the past 36 hours, continued to lash many parts of Sirmaur district, prompting the Paonta administration to declare a holiday on Friday for educational institutions.

As per official information, landslides have occurred at several places in the rural areas of the district, but no loss of life has been reported so far, except the death of an ox which slipped into a deep gorge near Shillai late Thursday evening.

Sirmaur's main rivers, Tons, Yamuna, Bata, Giri and Markanda, and dozens of streams are in spate. The administration has advised people to stay away from them.

Also read: Rainfall deficit comes down to 12 pc, says govt

Paonta Sub-Divisional Officer Dwij Goyal has declared a holiday on Friday for all government and private educational institutions in the Paonta sub-division of Himachal's Sirmaur district in view of an alert issued by the India Meteorological Department for heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.

According to orders issued late on Thursday, all government and private schools, Anganwadis, play schools, and all other educational institutions in the sub-division will remain closed on Friday.

However, heads of educational institutions and staff required for administrative and emergency work will remain available as directed by the competent authority.

Bengal grapples with waterlogging

Meanwhile, Heavy monsoon showers lashed a large part of West Bengal, with Cooch Behar in the northern parts of the state receiving the highest 143 mm of rain in 24 hours till Friday morning.

School and office-goers faced a harrowing time in the rain-drenched state capital as rains continued well past the morning, causing waterlogging and slowing down traffic in several parts of the city, including its IT hub of Sector V in the Salt Lake area.

Dum Dum, where the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport is located, recorded south Bengal's highest rainfall at 96 mm, according to weather office data.

Among other places in the state, Alipurduar received 112 mm of rain, Barrackpore 68 mm, Haldia 64 mm, Diamond Harbour 63 mm, and Salt Lake 55 mm.

Also read: Monsoon surges back with July rain, IMD issues red and orange alerts across states

IMD has forecast heavy rain over south Bengal till July 13 and over north Bengal till July 15. Kolkata may be hit by thunderstorms with winds gusting up to 30 to 40 kmph for the next few days, the IMD said.

Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra, which received heavy rains in the past few days, are likely to witness an ease in rainfall with the IMD predicting a reduction in rain activity over the state from July 9 onwards.

Very heavy rainfall has also been predicted for isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya on Friday.