Monsoon wreaks havoc across north India

Heavy rains claim three lives in Himachal 

New Delhi, July 9 (IANS):Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday claimed three lives of a family and hundreds, largely tourists, were stranded across the state as incessant rainfall for the second straight day triggered landslides and snapped over 700 road links, officials said.

The Chandigarh-Manali highway beyond Mandi town and the Pinjore-Baddi highway were hit. Manali and Kullu towns were cut off from rest of the state.

Three members of a family were killed in Kumarsain tehsil of Shimla district when boulders fell on their house. The police, the NDRF and Home Guards have rescued five migrant laborers near Chhuruhadu in Kullu.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu expressed grief over the death of three family members. He ordered closure of all schools in the state on July 10 and 11 in the wake of heavy rain.

Due to heavy rains on the Kalka-Shimla track, all trains have been canceled due to falling of stones and mud from the mountains. The 40-year-old bridge connecting Banjar with Aut in Kullu district has collapsed.

In another tough operation in the Himalayas, rescuers managed to establish contact with nearly 200 tourists and 100 potters stranded in the vicinity of the glacial-fed Chandertal or moon lake in Spiti Valley. They have been stranded owing to snapping of road links.

“All tourists stranded at Chandertal are all safe and healthy. Rescue operations have started. The police control room has started calling families of tourists and is assuring them of the tourists’ wellbeing,” said a senior police official.

One-day holiday for all schools in Delhi, Gurugram
 Owing to heavy rainfall that has affected normal lives in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared a one-day holiday for all schools in the city on Monday. "Due to the incessant heavy rainfall in Delhi for the past two days and in consideration of the warnings issued by the weather department, all schools in Delhi will be closed tomorrow," tweeted Kejriwal. 

Meanwhile, Education Minister Atishi  instructed all regional directors, deputy directors of education (zones and districts), principals, and vice-principals to conduct physical inspections of all government schools under their jurisdiction on Sunday. 

Gurugram Deputy Commissioner (DC) Nishant Yadav on Sunday announced that all government, private and play schools will be shut for a day on Monday in Gurugram in view of incessant rain over the last two days.

“On July 9 the District Gurugram experienced heavy & continuous rainfall and there is a prediction for heavy rainfall tomorrow (Monday) as well. The significant rainfall and the continuous forecast raise concerns regarding waterlogging, tree falling and disruption in civic amenities in several areas of the district,” the DC said.

Flood-like situation in Punjab, govt on alert
Flood-like situation has been prevailing in Punjab's Ropar, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur and Ferozepur districts owing to heavy rainfall for the last 24 hours and breaking of embankments of tributaries and overflowing of swollen rivers, damaging the newly planted paddy crop in huge tracts, an official said on Sunday.

Flood rescue operations involving the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the district. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asked all Cabinet Ministers, MLAs and officers to stay in their respective areas and reach out to the needy people in this hour of grave crisis.

Chandigarh sees highest rainfall in 23 years
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, on Sunday recorded the highest rainfall on a single day in July, setting a record in 23 years. It saw 322 mm of rain in 24 hours. The city previously recorded the highest-ever rainfall of 262 mm on July 18, 2000.

Several low-lying areas of Chandigarh were waterlogged with underpasses submerged. A large number of residents reported uprooting of trees, damaging of private property and rain water entering their houses.