Many regions under water as monsoon intensifies

Normal life was disrupted in major cities and flood situation further worsened in several states, as heavy monsoon showers intensified across many regions on Friday.

In Mumbai, torrential rains since Thursday midnight paralysed the city’s bustling transport system. Several long-distant trains had also been cancelled.

Suburban trains on all the three lines — central, western and harbour — came to a halt along with the road transport, while rains also hit air traffic in two city airports as visibility was below normal at 450 metres.

Authorities issued high-tide alert during the day, as the city recorded rainfall of 36.5 mm in the island city and 59.2 mm in the suburbs. The met department also forecast frequent in heavy rains in the next 24 hours accompanied by strong winds in some areas.

Schools and colleges in the city and in nearby towns were closed early, where south Mumbai, the heart of the commercial district wore a desolate look. 

According to weather bureau, Konkan, Goa, Central Maharashtra and Marathwada regions will have incessant rainfall for the next 48 hours. Very heavy rains have also been predicted over Konkan-Goa belt during the next 48 hours, while similar weather will prevail in Vidarbha for the next 24 hours, and Marathwada for 48 hours.

The rains disrupted rail traffic between Ahmedabad and Mumbai as tracks at Valsad were totally submerged.

Valsad in Gujarat received the highest rainfall in the state with 18 inches, while Jamnagar in Saurashtra region received nine inches of rain in the last 12 hours.

Heavy rains in the past 48 hours have claimed five lives in Andhra Pradesh. With downpours forecast for the next 24 hours, the Andhra Pradesh government has put district officials, particularly in the coastal region, on high alert.

Normal life in Hyderabad was hit by the rains. One woman died in the city when a house collapsed in the Mangalhat area.

Two people were washed away when flood water from a channel overflowed into the Kataram-Mahamutharam road in Karimnagar district.

With the heavy inflows, the level of Godavari River at Bhadrachalam in Khammam district rose to 24.4 feet. Heavy rains also affected coal production in some mines of the state-owned Singareni Collieries in Karimnagar and Khammam districts. 

In Kerala, which has been affected by incessant rains since the monsoon started on June 1, about half of the Kuttanad region has been submerged affecting nearly one lakh people. Close to 50 relief camps have been reopened in the region.

The monsoon had a sedate spell on Friday with only Vadakara in Kozhikode reporting heavy rainfall. The Met Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, however, has predicted heavy rainfall in isolated places till early Sunday. Rain triggered flash-floods in southern Odisha’s naxal-infested districts of Malkangiri and Koraput. The met department has warned further downpours for the next 48 hours. 

“Normal life has been affected in all the southern Odisha districts because of the heavy rain during the last two days. Two districts of Malkangiri and Koraput have been severely affected by the rain and subsequent floods. Malkangiri district in particular has been badly hit”, said an official in the revenue department here.

In Uttar Pradesh, swollen rivers continued to wreak havoc, flooding more areas and displacing thousands in many districts even as the state received moderate to heavy rains in the past 24 hours. Flood waters of Ghaghra engulfed more areas in Baharaich and Lakhimpur-Kheri district forcing people to shift to safer areas. The situation was similar at Gorakhpur, where Rapti river has been flowing above the danger mark, sources said.

The other major rivers including the Ganga and Yamuna were also flowing above the danger mark at many places, reports said.

Uneven rain plagues Bihar

In Bihar, six people are reported to have died when flood waters from Mahananda and Kankhai entered the villages of Purnia and Kishanganj. Heavy rainfall in north Bihar poured miseries on those residing in Araria, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur and Champaran.

In sharp contrast, districts like Jamui, Nalanda, Nawada, Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad, Banka in the south are yet to witness normal rainfall. “The peculiar situation has arisen because the low pressure monsoon trough over Odisha has not allowed rains to come to south Bihar,” said AK Sen, director of the Indian Meteorological Department, here.

Sen is, however, hopeful that it might rain in deficient areas after July 14 provided the low altitude monsoon trough from Uttar Pradesh did not move to Chhattisgarh and Odisha as it had done on three previous occasions.Interestingly, the overall rainfall in Bihar is normal with a deficiency of only three per cent. But experts feel if this trend continues, the cost of food production will shoot up abnormally high.