Focus shifts to rescue efforts as rains abate in parts of north India

As the weather improved in parts of north India, which was pummelled by heavy rains for days, authorities on Wednesday worked on a war footing to rescue stranded tourists, restore vehicular traffic on arterial roads and prevent floodwaters from entering new areas.

In Punjab and Haryana, at least 15 people have died in rain-related incidents, according to government data.

As many as 2,000 tourists stranded in Himachal Pradesh's Kasol were evacuated and more than 300 tourist vehicles stuck in Lahaul following landslides and flash floods left for their respective destinations, the state government said.

In Delhi, the Yamuna swelled to 207.55 metres on Wednesday, breaching its all-time high of 207.49 metres recorded in 1978, according to government agencies.

 

Delhi has recorded a rapid increase in the Yamuna water level over the last three days. It shot up from 203.14 metres at 11 am on Sunday to 205.4 metres at 5 pm on Monday, breaching the danger mark of 205.33 metres 18 hours earlier than expected.

The Delhi Police has imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), preventing unlawful assembly of four or more people and public movement in groups, in flood-prone areas.

Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters that the Delhi government is prepared to deal with the situation. "We are monitoring the situation and all possible steps are being taken," he said.

Embankments are being constructed in low-lying areas to prevent the entry of floodwaters into other parts of the capital in case the Yamuna water level rises further.

An Irrigation and Flood Control Department official explained the sharp rise in the water level was due to continuous rainfall in the upper catchment areas and saturated soil from heavy precipitation in Delhi and nearby regions over the weekend.

People living in low-lying areas have been shifted to safer places at higher altitudes, the department said, adding that 45 boats have been deployed for evacuation and rescue work.

As the Yamuna reached an all-time high, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to intervene, saying news of floods in the capital will not send a good message to the world.

However, the situation in Delhi is unlikely to improve anytime soon with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting light to moderate rain in the city on Wednesday and intermittent rains over the next four to five days.

The IMD said heavy to very heavy rainfall activity is likely to continue over Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Madhya Pradesh during the next two days and decrease thereafter.

In Himachal Pradesh, about 2,200 stranded vehicles crossed Kullu after the Kullu-Manali road was opened on Tuesday evening.

Over 2,000 people stranded in Kasol have been successfully evacuated. Teams are working tirelessly to clear the Dunkhara landslide on the Kasol-Bhuntar road. The district administration is coordinating the relief efforts, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a tweet.

Over 300 tourist vehicles stuck in Lahaul have also left for their respective destinations, he said.

Sukhu had said on Tuesday that all stranded tourists would be evacuated by Wednesday and that six helicopters had been deployed for the task. He had also said that the hill state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 4,000 crore due to the rains.

A total of 873 roads are still blocked for vehicular traffic, according to officials.

Light to heavy rains lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday with Dhaula Kuan recording 144.5 mm of rainfall, Renuka 87 mm, Reckongpeo 42 mm, Kotkhai 30 mm, Hamirpur 16.5, Shimla 13.5, Dharamshala 13 mm and Kalpa 10 mm, according to the local meteorological department.

The weather office has issued a 'yellow' warning for heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning on July 15 and 16 in the state.

In Haryana, one person was electrocuted while wading through a waterlogged street in a residential colony in Ambala Cantonment and three bodies were found floating in water in Ambala city on Wednesday, police said.

Ambala district is the worst hit in Haryana, which was pounded by heavy rains between Saturday and Monday.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will visit Ambala on Wednesday to take stock of the situation in the district, officials said.

The incessant downpour left houses inundated and caused extensive damage to crops and vegetables in many districts. The overflowing Yamuna has flooded vast tracts of farmland in Karnal district.

In Punjab, nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated so far in Patiala, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Mohali, SBS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, officials said.

The death toll due to rain-related incidents in Haryana and Punjab is 15, according to government data.

Ambala, Yamunangar, Kurukshetra, Patiala, Rupnagar, Jalandhar, SBS Nagar and Mohali are some of the affected districts in the two states.

The governments have set up relief shelters in several districts in the two states.

The weather remained clear at most places for the second day in the region on Wednesday.