Before its return, the southwest monsoon is raining disaster from the mountains to the plains. Due to heavy rains in the western Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, landslides have caused traffic to come to a halt on more than 400 roads including several national highways. The Badrinath highway also remained closed for the whole day and the Kedarnath pedestrian route could not be opened even on the second day. There has been snowfall on the high peaks of Himachal and the danger of sudden floods has increased in two districts. At the same time, rivers are in spate in the plains, roads are waterlogged and life has been badly affected. There is no relief in sight for at least three days, the Meteorological Department has warned of heavy to very heavy rains in 18 states including Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
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According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), heavy to very heavy rains are expected in Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand till September 15 due to a low pressure area formed over the northeast Bay of Bengal. The department said that a low pressure area has also formed over northwest Uttar Pradesh and due to this, heavy rains occurred in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Friday. The IMD has issued an alert for extremely heavy rains in Odisha, West Bengal and southern Chhattisgarh on Saturday. Apart from this, heavy to very heavy rains have been warned in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Madhya Maharashtra, Gujarat and all the states of the northeast for the next three days.
Five people including three women have died in different rain-related incidents in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. These deaths have occurred in Lohaghat, Pithoragarh, Almora, Haldwani and Sitarganj. 324 roads in the state are also closed due to falling of stones and debris from the mountains. 185 of these roads are in the Kumaon region. Schools have been closed in many districts. Safari has also been stopped in Corbett Park.
47 people got stranded on the way due to the closure of Jyotirmath-Malari highway. Badrinath highway remained closed throughout the day on Friday due to landslide in Parthadip. Due to intermittent rain in Kedarghati, the journey from Kedarnath footpath could not start on the second day as well. Due to dense fog, helicopters could not fly.
Snowfall on the peaks of Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul Amid a yellow alert for rain in Himachal Pradesh, there was snowfall on the peaks of Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul on Friday. Torrential rain was recorded in the capital Shimla. 117 roads remained closed in the state due to bad weather and landslides. National Highway-505 going to Kaza-Samdo has been blocked due to a landslide at Maling Nalla of Pooh in Kinnaur. The Meteorological Center Shimla has issued a flood warning in Shimla and Sirmaur districts on Saturday.
Vaishno Devi helicopter service also remained stalled
Due to fog on Trikuta mountain in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, helicopters could not fly to Vaishno Devi. Due to this, devotees had to face problems. However, battery car and ropeway services continued. By six o’clock on Friday evening, about 18 thousand devotees had left for the temple chanting the praises of the mother. However, due to cloudy weather, the temperature has dropped and people have got relief from the heat.