The Meteorological Department has warned of heavy rains in many states including Bihar for Saturday. A red alert has been issued in Assam, Meghalaya and North Bengal. There is an alert of storm and extremely heavy rain in these places. At the same time, an orange alert has been issued in Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh regarding rain and storm. At the same time, light rain is expected in Delhi. A yellow alert has been issued regarding rain in the eastern states of the country including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. However, the weather is expected to remain normal in the western parts of the country.
The IMD said that the satellite animation of Friday night shows that hot winds are rapidly moving towards cold areas in northern Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, eastern Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, South Chhattisgarh, northern Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep Islands area. Light to moderate rainfall is likely at many places in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, northern Chhattisgarh and northeastern states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands with this process, along with occasional heavy rain at night.
Light rain likely in Delhi
The Meteorological Department has predicted generally cloudy sky and moderate rain in Delhi on Saturday. The department said that the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 35 and 25 degrees Celsius respectively. Despite light rain on Friday, Delhi experienced humid weather and the relative humidity level remained between 90 to 91 percent. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature was recorded at 33.3 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal. Rainfall was limited.
Delhi’s air improved
Safdarjung recorded 17 mm rainfall in 24 hours till Friday evening. Despite cloudy skies, there was no heavy rain. Meanwhile, the air quality in the city remained in the ‘satisfactory’ category. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded an overall AQI of 58 at 6 pm.
Chandigarh-Manali highway closed in Himachal Pradesh
Several roads were blocked on Friday due to rain-induced floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh. Officials said the Chandigarh-Manali and Manali-Leh national highways were closed, causing inconvenience to commuters and creating traffic jams. They said a taxi driver, Jai Kishan, a resident of Chandigarh, was injured and his vehicle damaged due to a landslide at Kainch Mor near Pandoh dam in Mandi district. According to officials, a portion of the Shivabdar road caved in, blocking the Chandigarh-Manali national highway 21 and completely cutting off road connectivity to the village. A long traffic jam occurred as vehicles were stranded on both sides of the road and as a precautionary measure, vehicles were being stopped at the Pandoh dam. Machines have also been brought to the site of the accident, but repair work was hampered due to intermittent rains.
Manali-Leh highway also closed
Mandi Superintendent of Police Sakshi Verma said that traffic will be restored from one side of the road as soon as the rain stops. Manali-Leh National Highway 3 was closed here at Jispah in Lahaul and Spiti district due to flooding in Masheran drain and large stones and debris scattered on the road. Videos of debris falling on the road are also being circulated and the flood here has destroyed the fields of many people. Lahaul and Spiti MLA Anuradha Rana said that machines have been taken to remove the debris from the road and the administration is engaged in the work.
291 roads closed
One-way traffic has been restored on the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway 21 near Samlatu in Bilaspur district, which was once again blocked due to landslide. Currently, the other side of the road is completely covered with debris. In view of the increasing incidents of landslides, Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar has cautioned local residents and tourists to travel only if absolutely necessary. Himachal Pradesh received 250.3 mm rainfall in July, which is two per cent less than the average rainfall of 255.9 mm. The local weather office on Friday issued a ‘yellow’ alert for heavy rains in isolated areas of three to 10 districts of the state till Tuesday. According to the State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC), a total of 291 roads in the state, including 171 roads in the disaster-hit Mandi district, were closed on Thursday evening.