Record monsoon rains in northern India kill more than 100 over 2 weeks – National
Schools and universities have been forced to die after record monsoon rains caused massive flooding, subsidence of roads, collapsed houses and traffic jams across much of northern India, killing more than 100 people in two weeks. closed, killing more than 100 people in two weeks, officials said Thursday.
In the hardest-hit mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, swirling floods swept away cars, buses, bridges and homes, killing at least 88 people, including 42 in the past five days and injuring more than 100. announced by the state government. Said. The area lies approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of New Delhi.
State government spokesman Sishir Singh said 12 people had died in rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh since Wednesday.
Of those, nine died from drowning, two from lightning strikes and one from a snake bite, Singh said.
Officials said one person was killed in New Delhi and four in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Authorities have used helicopters to rescue around 300 people, mostly tourists, stranded in the Chanderthal region of Himachal Pradesh since Saturday. That included seven sick people who were flown in on Tuesday, the government said.
Heavy rains and landslides destroyed nearly 170 homes in the state, with another 600 partially damaged, according to the state emergency response center.
In New Delhi, residential areas near the Jamuna River were flooded, submerging roads, cars and homes, forcing thousands to flee the lowlands.
Vehicle movement was disrupted in New Delhi on Thursday after dozens of cars were blocked by the water during the morning rush hour.
Water levels in the Jamuna River, which flows through the Indian capital, reached 207.71 meters (681.5 feet) Wednesday night, surpassing a 40-year record, the office of New Delhi’s top electoral leader Arvind Kejriwal said in a statement.
People stand beside a road swept away by the swollen River Bees after heavy rains in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, India, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. At least 15 people have died after heavy monsoon rains caused landslides and flash floods in northern India. in the last few days. (AP Photo/Akhil Khan).
Authorities have transferred nearly 30,000 people to relief camps and converted some schools in hard-hit areas into relief camps, the statement said. Hundreds of people with livestock have taken refuge under a road overpass in the eastern part of the Indian capital.
Factory owner Rajesh Singh was stranded on his motorcycle for hours when floodwaters blocked both sides of the road near the riverbank. “I have never seen anything like this in the last 22 years,” he said.
“New Delhi hasn’t had much rain in the last two days, but unusually high discharges from the Hatni Kund weir in neighboring state Haryana are causing river levels to rise,” said Keziriwal. .
The Meteorological Agency of India expects more heavy rains in the northern regions in the next few days. According to the report, monsoon rains have already increased rainfall by about 2% above normal across the country.
India regularly experiences severe flooding during the monsoon season, which brings most of South Asia’s annual rainfall from June to September. Rain is very important for rain-fed crops planted during the season, but it often causes devastating damage.
Scientists say climate change and global warming have made monsoons increasingly unstable, causing frequent landslides and flash floods in India’s northern Himalayas.
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