It has been a matter of life and death in some parts of the country: seven have perished in Himachal and Karnataka, 21 were hurt in Arunachal Pradesh. In response, officials have put out alerts for heavy to very heavy downpours. A red alert in Palghar and new word from the IMD point to the risk at hand.
The big picture: Lives lost, alerts up, and travel disrupted
For the next few days, the India Meteorological Department has put multiple states on notice for some intense weather. You can see the impact already, from the hills to the urban core, where there are reports of landslides, high water and broken transport links.
The going has been too rough for pilgrimages in Jammu and Kashmir, so those have been called off. In Maharashtra, a red alert in Palghar has kept schools and colleges shut on Thursday. Elsewhere in the Mumbai area, there has been no end to the waterlogging and the odd power scare.
Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka bear the brunt
Himachal has seen four lives go in the wake of the rain. The deluge has brought about landslides, rising rivers and blackouts in Shimla, Manali and Dharamshala. By Wednesday, the weather office in Shimla had the whole state under the southwest monsoon’s influence.
An orange alert was put in place for the period of July 2-6, barring the 4th, for any spot that might see very heavy rain. On the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway near Aut, a boulder from Solan proved fatal for one woman. Three more were not as lucky in Kangra district.
The State Emergency Operations Centre in Kangra says one of those was an electrocution, another a fall. In Chamba, you could call it flood-like conditions; debris made its way into some homes, 35 roads are closed and 127 transformers have been put out of commission.
Over in Mangaluru, Karnataka, a house was put under by a landslide. Three of the family, two of them girls, were killed. After a night of hard rain, three more were pulled from the rubble when the hillside gave way above the home.
Urban India strains under water
Thane, Palghar and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have all been pummeled by the kind of rain that overloads the stormwater system and drowns out the low-lying areas. Rescuers in Ulhasnagar had to wade in to get a 70-year-old out of her home after she was left to the elements for hours.
Then there was the case in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, where two girls were shocked by a live wire on a road under water. They made it, but it has people rethinking what is safe in the street when a downpour is in full force.
With a red alert in effect for Palghar, educational institutions will be dark on Thursday. Officials in Thane say very heavy rain is in the cards for the next three or so days, and in the neighbourhoods where the ground is already soaked, they are bracing for it.
Mumbai is under an orange alert from the IMD. The warning is for the possibility of extremely heavy rain in some places in the coming days. Those who need to be out and about, as well as the services that keep things running, are ready for some hiccups.
Northeast under stress, east on watch
Arunachal Pradesh is still reeling from the floods. Rains have caused yet more flash flooding and slides. In the past week alone, four are dead, 21 have been made to suffer injury and two are unaccounted for. There is damage to be found in the form of ruined houses, roads and bridges.
Centre’s support for relief and the work of putting things right is what Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Kiren Rijiju have put forward to the state. But the extent of what has been done in makes getting in and making repairs a slow process in some districts.
The IMD is expecting a low-pressure area to come to be in the northwest Bay of Bengal on July 3. With the winds and moisture in its favour, that could mean a lot of rain for south Bengal from the 4th to the 7th.
Pilgrimages paused, hill alerts widen
You won’t find any of the annual makeovers to the Machail Mata and Mindhal Mata shrines in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, this year. The authorities have put a stop to it, pointing to the unbroken rain and the danger of loose stones on the way.
Uttarakhand has seen the monsoon move in across most of the state. An orange alert from the IMD for Dehradun and Bageshwar is a heads-up for the heavy to very heavy rain that could be in store, especially when the roads are at their busiest.
In Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the rain has been a welcome break from the heat. Wednesday’s rain made its way to a number of towns in Punjab and Haryana, from Mohali, Kharar, Pathankot, Patiala and Hoshiarpur on one side to Ambala, Yamunanagar, Sonipat, Hisar, Rohtak and Karnal on the other.
The reason for the alerts
There is already pressure on transport in Himachal Pradesh with 35 roads shut down. The power grid has been no less hard put to it; 127 transformers have been affected, and if the downpours continue, it will be some time before things are back to normal.
Maharashtra is dealing with an urban set of problems. Between the clogged drains, live wires in the open and water-logged streets, there are hazards that are not easy to contain as they happen. The red alert for Palghar and the orange for Mumbai are meant to head off trouble before it starts.
To the east, a low-pressure system is in the offing on July 3, with more to come for south Bengal between the 4th and 7th. Should the IMD’s forecast prove right, officials will have little time to put their house in order in flood-vulnerable areas.
Some of the main things to be aware of:
– An orange alert in Himachal (July 2-6, with the 4th an exception)
– Red alert in Palghar; schools and colleges are out of session on Thursday
– Mumbai under an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain
– Thane can expect the same over the next three days
– Dehradun and Bageshwar in Uttarakhand on orange
– South Bengal in for a wet spell from July 4 to 7
**Lightning, live wires and what lies in wait**
Uttar Pradesh has seen two lives lost and eight people, four of them children, hurt in lightning strikes. It is a monsoon risk that tends to reappear when folks put up with the elements or find themselves in the open during a sudden squall.
Then there was the case in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, where an exposed wire on a sodden road delivered a shock. You see these kinds of dangers more often when the rain lingers and the infrastructure can’t keep up.
**On the ground**
Himachal has been in the thick of it. The weather office put it down to the southwest monsoon covering the state by Wednesday, which is in line with the kind of localised intensity being seen. In Lanot and Phagdog in Chamba, homes were riddled with debris and some had to be left. Even where schools have put up their heads after the heat, turn-out is low with the roads in the way.
A landslide in the Nagori part of Mangaluru in Karnataka claimed a life in the early hours. A hillside gave in to the non-stop rain, preliminary reports say.
Thane and Palghar in Maharashtra have been under a deluge since late Tuesday. In Ulhasnagar, water has found its way into neighbourhoods and rescue workers have to make do with the currents in the lanes.
Where the respite is, and where it is coming
After a run of hot days, the weather in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh has broken. The showers have made for a more comfortable day and put a check on power demand, even as the drains are put to the test.
In Delhi, the monsoon should be here in a couple of days. It may well be the end of the capital’s summer and a welcome change for the NCR.
What comes next
The IMD is putting out word of more to come in the way of heavy rain. For those in charge on the ground, it is a matter of opening up the roads, getting the lights on and keeping an eye on the riverbanks and slopes.
In and around Mumbai, the idea is to stay on top of complaints and clear the drains so there is no repeat of the flooding. There is also a nudge to stay in during the heaviest of it.
Himachal’s orange alert for most of the week means a period of close watching on the highways. If the rain holds over the hills, the travel advice is likely to get stricter.
Relief in Arunachal is making its way to the villages, but with a toll of four dead and 21 injured in a week, the work is to put the access back in place.
And in south Bengal, with the low pressure and the forecast, the district administrations have been told to be ready for the wind and the water, especially in the lower reaches.
The northern plains have had a cooling off, but the message from the coasts and the hills is unambiguous: as the monsoon gets more serious, so does the need for care.
