The state is in for a wet weekend. A new wave of monsoon activity will see three days of hard rain, an orange alert in some districts and a heavy rain warning for 12 on Saturday. The system has already put its mark on parts of the state and left infrastructure in North India feeling the pressure.
MP on alert for three days
Narmadapuram, Umaria and Chhatarpur are under an orange alert from the Meteorological Centre for very heavy rain; the other districts are on yellow.
For Saturday, the India Meteorological Department has put out a heavy rain alert for 12 districts, cautioning that 24-hour totals could exceed 4 inches. Niwari, Rewa and Chhatarpur are among those likely to be hit hard.
Showers can be expected in the western reaches of the state as well, courtesy of a cyclonic circulation over northwest Madhya Pradesh. Localised flooding and traffic problems are what the authorities are looking out for.
What is driving the surge in rain
Rainfall in the east of Madhya Pradesh has been stoked by a monsoon trough moving through Uttar Pradesh. The weather department says a depression from the Bay of Bengal has made its way into Jharkhand.
By Saturday morning the system should be in Chhattisgarh and have weakened to a low-pressure area. That alone is enough to bring heavy rain to eastern MP for the next three days.
On-ground impact recorded so far
Datia was the worst affected, with the Meteorological Centre putting down 62 mm of rain by 5:30 pm on Friday. In Satna and Agar-Malwa the figure was 15 mm apiece, while Shahdol and Tikamgarh saw 14 mm and 12 mm respectively.
Afternoon showers in Bhopal were torrential enough to cause waterlogging in places. Municipal bodies are bracing for drainage issues and possible power outages given the forecast.
Key alerts at a glance
Official signals to keep an eye on as things develop:
– Orange alert for Narmadapuram, Umaria and Chhatarpur
– Yellow for the rest of MP’s districts
– Heavy rain alert on Saturday in 12 districts
– Possibility of more than 4 inches in a day
– Cyclonic circulation making itself felt in west MP
Spillover across North India
Friday’s rain reached 60 cities in Uttar Pradesh, from Lucknow to Noida and Ghaziabad. In Noida and Jhansi the streets were under two or three feet of water. There was also a fatality in Sambhal when a 45-year-old woman was struck by lightning.
The Ganga, Yamuna and Sharda are among ten UP rivers to go past the danger level. In Unnao the Ganga has risen so much that boats have had to take to the streets to get around the floodwater.
Delhi had its share of scattered showers and waterlogged areas on Friday. An orange alert is in place for Saturday from the IMD, with light to moderate rain to persist in many spots.
Bihar and Jharkhand face rising waters
Monsoon is set to pick up again in Bihar, where 18 districts including Patna are on a yellow alert and there is concern over lightning. The Baya River in Samastipur has swelled and some 50,000 in 10 villages are affected.
Jharkhand has not been spared. Three women were left in serious condition after a mud house gave way in Seraikela-Kharsawan on Friday. To the east in Singhbhum, the Subarnarekha and Kharkai are running above the danger mark.
In Palamu the Koel has overflowed into low-lying neighbourhoods like Kandu Mohalla and Muslim Nagar. Officials are keeping a close eye on the embankments and urging people in riverine areas to be careful.
Hilly and northern plains feel the strain
Roads in Karnal, Haryana were left underwater with vehicles stranded. Shimla in Himachal Pradesh had a sharp spell of it with fog reducing visibility to under 50 metres.
Persistent rain has taken its toll on the Thal-Munsyari road in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. Debris has made for slow going and complicated any clearance efforts.
As the monsoon system continues to shift, the coming 72 hours are key for Madhya Pradesh. It is best to heed local advisories as the rain belt makes its way through.
