Disasters & Accidents

Death toll rises to 41 as north India devastated by torrential rains

New Delhi, Jul 12 (EFE).- At least 41 people have been killed over the past few days due to the heavy rains lashing north India, officials confirmed Wednesday, even as the India Meteorology Department extended the weather high alert for several regions.

The northern state of Himachal Pradesh is the worst-affected so far with 31 deaths, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told reporters.

“Over 2000 stranded individuals in Kasol have been successfully evacuated as of now. Our teams are working tirelessly,” Sukhu tweeted, adding that landslides had complicated rescue works on highways connecting some of the most popular tourist spots of the mountainous state.

The acting director general of police in Himachal Pradesh, Satwant Atwal, told EFE that authorities had recovered 13 bodies just from the area surrounding Manali, while rains have continued in regional capital Shimla.

In neighboring Punjab, at least 10 people have been killed in rain-related incidents, the state’s revenue and disaster management minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa told reporters.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced aid for the flood and rain-affected people of the state on Twitter, adding that currently there was no further danger of rivers overflowing due to excess rain and causing more damage.

In capital Delhi, the overflowing Yamuna river has kept the authorities on alert after it crossed the danger mark of 205.33 meters above sea-level and was currently situated at 207.55 meters, the Central Water Commission reported.

This is the river’s highest level since 2013, due to which authorities have been forced to evacuate over 6,000 people and shut down schools.

The IMD has maintained a high alert for heavy rains in parts of Himachal and the neighboring Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, according to the latest weather bulletin.

Heavy rains cause significant losses of lives, property and infrastructure every year in South Asian countries, especially during the monsoon period between May and September. EFE

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