NEW DELHI, July 6: The monsoon packed a deadly punch across India on Monday, claiming lives in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, crippling rail and road networks, triggering landslides and flooding, inundating towns in Odisha, with the IMD forcasting more heavy rainfall over several states.
Emerging as the epicentre of the crisis, Maharashtra reported three fresh rain-related deaths in Pune and 13 fatalities over the last three to four days. In Himachal Pradesh, a 14-year-old girl died after a shooting stone hit a vehicle she was travelling in.
Odisha remained on statewide alert as incessant rain continued for the third day.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Mumbai, Thane and Raigad, warning of more heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds.
The country’s financial capital came to a standstill as the city’s rail network was disrupted. Train services on the Mumbai-Pune route were suspended after multiple landslides hit the Karjat-Lonavala Bhor Ghat section.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was shut after a concrete pillar fell onto the carriageway, while the old Mumbai-Pune highway was also closed due to overflowing water at multiple locations.Western Railway services on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor were also hit by waterlogging, affecting more than 40 train services. At least 10 trains were cancelled, eight rescheduled and several diverted or short-terminated. Over 20 long-distance trains remained stranded.
In Pune, two people died after their house was buried under debris in a landslide in Maval tehsil, while another person died after being swept away on a flooded road in Khed tehsil.
In Mumbai’s Thane, a fireman was injured while clearing a massive uprooted tree. Himachal Pradesh also reported a rain-related fatality after a 14-year-old girl died when a shooting stone hit the vehicle she was travelling in Chamba.
Heavy overnight rain in the hill state also triggered flash floods and blocked key roads in Chamba and Kullu districts.The Chamba-Tissa road remained blocked after a flash flood at Pangola Nala in Churah subdivision, while flooding disrupted traffic at Pagal Nala on the Larji-Sainj road in Kullu.
Authorities ordered the controlled release of around 50 cumecs of additional water from the Parbati Power Station-III reservoir into the Sainj river after reservoir levels rose due to continuous rainfall.
Mandi’s Jogindernagar recorded the highest rainfall in the state at 97 mm, followed by Kangra with 74.8 mm. Under the influence of the depression, Odisha is likely to experience light to moderate rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places on July 6 and 7 and heavy rainfall at isolated places on July 8, it said.Fishermen were advised not to venture into the northwest Bay of Bengal and along the Odisha and West Bengal coasts till July 7. (PTI)
