Monsoon ferocity batters several states; normalcy disrupted in north, west India

New Delhi, July 9: Torrential monsoon rains unleashed widespread destruction across several parts of the country on Thursday, inundating roads, uprooting trees, damaging property and disrupting normal life, while authorities scrambled to restore normalcy amid forecasts of more rain.
Roads and residential areas remained submerged in several cities, with commuters wading through knee-deep water and traffic crawling on major roads and highways. Trees uprooted by strong winds blocked roads at several places, while flooding disrupted vehicular movement and damaged houses.
Rescue operations also continued at the site of a building that collapsed a day earlier at a waste-to-energy plant in Maharashtra’s Pimpri Chinchwad near Pune after a massive mound of garbage gave way due to heavy rain.
Delhi witnessed one of its heaviest spells of rain this season, with widespread waterlogging, uprooted trees and traffic snarls throwing life out of gear. Several commuters and residents took to social media to share their ordeal.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inspected the drainage arrangements in Shalimar Village in her assembly constituency and directed officials to ensure proper water drainage, while PWD minister Parvesh Sahib Singh also visited the PWD’s control at ITO to review the dewatering arrangements and said that in most cases the stagnant water was removed and the “situation is better than in previous years”.
In neighbouring Gurugram, a section of the balcony of a luxury apartment complex collapsed on a rain-soaked Thursday morning, though no injuries were reported.
Among other parts of the national capital region, widespread waterlogging and traffic disruptions were reported from Noida, Ghaziabad, Ghazipur and Faridabad.
In Rajasthan, widespread rainfall soaked parts of the state, with the Met department forecasting extremely heavy rainfall in isolated areas of Kota and Bharatpur divisions on Thursday.
Uttarakhand remained on high alert as incessant rainfall over the last 24 hours triggered landslides and raised river levels. Traffic was disrupted on 107 routes, including nine state highways. The IMD issued a ‘red’ alert for seven district, including Dehradun.
In view of the heavy rain warning, the Dehradun district administration declared a holiday on Friday for all government, government-aided and private schools, as well as anganwadi centres.
As heavy rains continued in parts of Kerala, the IMD on Thursday issued an orange alert in three districts of the state for the day. The IMD issued an orange alert in the districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Wayanad.
Monsoon-related incidents have claimed three lives and forced the evacuation of nearly 800 persons across Thane district in Maharashtra in the past week, while a lightning strike in the latest weather-related incident left two persons injured, officials said on Thursday.
Torrential downpours have caused widespread disruption, forcing emergency teams to rescue and shift 797 persons from 229 families to safer locations, they said. (PTI)