India monsoon July 22 updates | IMD issues orange alert for Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg

Here is a video of Buffaloes getting washed away in flood waters in Junagadh city.

A surge in discharge from the Hathnikund Barrage into the Yamuna following heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is expected to increase the water level of the river in Delhi and impact relief and rehabilitation work in the flood-affected low-lying areas of the capital, officials said on Saturday.

The river water level, which has been hovering around the danger mark of 205.33 metres for the last few days, dropped below the threshold again on Saturday morning.

The Central Water Commission’s (CWC) data showed the water level dropped to 205.16 metres at 4 pm on Saturday. It may drop further before the impact of rain in upper catchment areas becomes clear.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rain in parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand till July 25.

PTI

Maharashtra Minister Shamburaj Desai on Saturday directed the police to step up night patrolling in Thane district during monsoon.

Desai, who was reviewing the rainfall and flood situation in the district, said the police were the first point of contact for people during calamities and hence, all machineries should be at hand even at night.

Collector Ashok Shingare, Police commissioner Jai Jeet Singh, Thane Municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar, his Navi Mumbai counterpart Rajesh Narvekar and other senior officials and legislators attended the review meet.

The district guardian minister directed officials to get all C-1 category buildings, classified as most dangerous, vacated on priority, and ensure that proper transit camps are set up for people living in these structures.

The collector informed the meeting that out of the 646 buildings, only 50 per cent had been vacated.

PTI

Around 110 people stranded due to floods in Mahagaon tehsil of eastern Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district were rescued on Saturday, officials said.

Besides the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), an Mi-17 V5 chopper of the Indian Air Force was also pressed into service for the rescue operation at Anandnagar Tanda village, district collector Amol Yedge told PTI.

The SDRF shifted the stranded people to safe places and the rescue operation was over, he added. The district, around 150 km from Nagpur, has been receiving heavy rains since Friday.

PTI

“Rescue operation was going on since morning. 32 people have been rescued for now from the Anand Nagar area in Maharashtra. All of them have been shifted to the safe area,” said Vinayak Kote, Deputy SP, Yavatmal.

Heavy rains battered Junagadh, flooding the city since morning. Video: Special arrangement

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas in Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg districts for Sunday.

The weather department has also issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall in isolated places in Mumbai for tomorrow.

ANI

Rescue operation underway in Yavatmal by Indian Air Force as several people are stranded in Anand Nagar village in Maharashtra due to a flood in the area following incessant rain.

A cloudburst triggered flash floods in the Union Territory of Ladakh, causing debris to flow into the main market area and throwing life out of gear, but there are no reports of any loss of life, officials said on Saturday.

The cloudburst hit the Gangles area of the Union territory late Friday night and left several parts of Leh town inundated, they said, adding the debris entered many buildings in the low-lying areas, causing some damage to them.

A police spokesperson said rescue and rehabilitation work was underway in Leh town, especially in Khakshal, Sanker, Skampari, Chhubi, Zangsti and the main market Gonpa Soma areas.

As a result of the flash floods, a programme of the Dalai Lama in Leh was postponed, the officials said.

PTI

A Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation bus carrying 40 passengers got stuck in the strong water current of a river while passing through a flooded causeway on the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border, officials said.

All the passengers have been rescued and the bus has also been removed with the help of heavy machines, Najibabad police Circle Officer (CO) Gajendra Singh said.

On Saturday morning, the water level in the Kotawali river rose on the Najibabad-Hariddar road due to heavy rains, and a roadways bus with 40 passengers got stuck in the strong current in Mandawali area, he said.

PTI

To address the immediate needs of people affected due to rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Saturday requested the Centre to release the state’s pending disaster relief fund of over ₹315 crore.

The Chief Minister said the state’s disaster compensation worth ₹315.8 crore has been withheld for the past few years.

The delay was attributed to objections raised by the Accountant General, which the state government has successfully resolved through persistent efforts, Mr. Sukhu said in a statement.

PTI

A fresh batch of over 3,000 Amarnath pilgrims left a base camp here for Kashmir on Saturday but their convoy was briefly stopped in Ramban following landslides at two places along the Jammu-Srinagar highway, officials said. Landslides due to rains were reported from Mehar and Dalwas areas along the 270-km highway but after removal of debris traffic movement was restored, officials said.

The 20th batch of 3,472 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu in 132 vehicles in the early hours of Saturday but the convoy was stopped at Chanderkote due to the closure of the highway, they said.

The pilgrims were later allowed to move towards their destinations in the Kashmir Valley to join the yatra, the officials said, adding they reached Banihal around noon.

PTI

Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel has rescued all students who got stranded due to the heavy debris being swept into the Kasturba Inter College in Uttarkashi district, officials said on Saturday.

The SDRF was informed by the Uttarkashi Disaster Management, in the middle of the night on Thursday about students being trapped inside Kasturba Inter College due to falling debris near Gangnani.

“Acting on the information, as per the instructions of Manikant Mishra, Commandant SDRF, the SDRF rescue team immediately reached the spot with rescue equipment,” an official statement read.

About 150 students were trapped due to the debris and all of them were rescued by the SDRF rescue team in the night itself and taken to a safe place.

ANI

People living in landslide-prone areas in Maharashtra should be moved to safer locations, said Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday amid an ongoing rescue operation to look for survivors at Irshalwadi in Raigad district.

Talking to reporters after meeting the residents of Irsahlwadi, where at least 25 people have died in a landslide, the former chief minister said he had planned a scheme to rehabilitate villages residing in landslide-prone areas to safer places.

“Not just Irsahlwadi. All such localities should be rehabilitated in nearby villages or areas,” he said.

PTI

Search and rescue teams on Saturday recovered three bodies from the debris at the landslide-affected Irshalwadi village in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, taking the death toll in the tragedy to 25, an official said.

The deceased include two women and a man, he said.

“Bodies of two women and a man were recovered from the landslide site in Irshalwadi on Saturday,” an official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said.

With this, the death toll in the landslide tragedy has gone up to 25, he said, adding that the search and rescue work is still underway as 83 persons are yet to be traced.

PTI

Several roads were damaged and water-logging was reported in various parts of Telangana, including the capital city, on Friday following incessant rains in the last three days.

Some residential localities at Gajularamaram, Rajendranagar here witnessed inundation and the Hussain Sagar lake was filled to the brim.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Ronald Ross, who visited rain-hit areas asked field-level officials to be alert.

No loss of life due to the rains has been reported so far, an official release quoted him as saying.

The Commissioner said 428 monsoon emergency teams and 27 Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams have been working to address rain-related problems.

Several rivulets were in spate in Nizamabad, Jagtial, Medak and other districts following rainfall which caused damage to roads.

PTI

One male and two female bodies have been recovered at Raigad Irshalgad. Death toll rises to 26. (25 locals and 1 firefighter): Raigad Police officials

Odisha received light to moderate rainfall in districts spread across it as well as the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on Saturday due to the low pressure area (LOPAR) in the Bay of Bengal, the MeT office said.

The rainfall activities are likely to continue till July 27 as another LOPAR will be formed in the Bay of Bengal on July 24 but the intensity will decrease over the next two days, it said. - PTI

The water level of the Yamuna in Delhi, which has been hovering around the danger mark of 205.33 metres for the last few days, dropped below the threshold again on Saturday morning.

However, fresh spells of heavy rain have been reported in parts of Uttarakhand and it may lead to a rise in the river water level again, further delaying rehabilitation efforts in the flood-affected low-lying areas of Delhi.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rain in parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand till July 25. - PTI

A fresh batch of over 3,000 Amarnath pilgrims left a base camp for Kashmir on Saturday but their convoy was stopped in Ramban after authorities closed the Jammu-Srinagar national highway following heavy rains and landslides.

Landslides due to rains have been reported from Mehar and Dalwas areas along the 270 k.m. highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, officials said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) continued its search and rescue operations at the landslide-hit Irshalgad in Raigad on Saturday. Till now, 22 dead bodies have been recovered from the site, officials said.One team of NDRF reached the site early this morning and more are of its teams are expected to join the search operation later today. - ANI

Canine squad carries out search operation in landslide-hit area of Raigad in Maharashtra - ANI

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The water level in Yamuna river at Old Railway Bridge continued to stay above the danger mark as it was recorded at 205.48 meters at 10:00 p.m. on Friday.

After days of receding, the Yamuna water-level once again crossed the danger mark meanwhile, the hourly water discharge from Hathni Kund Barrage which had gone up to the extent of approximately 3,60,000 cusecs on July 11 is now flowing at 29,973 cusecs as recorded at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. - ANI

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday declared areas in Haridwar waterlogged due to flood as “disaster-prone” and deferred the payment of electricity and water bills and other government dues and loans for the next three months.

Meanwhile, several places including Badrinath and Yamunotri National Highway were blocked due to landslides caused by heavy rains. - PTI