Officials announced Thursday that schools and colleges were shuttered after record monsoon rains caused massive waterlogging, road cave-ins, collapsed homes, and gridlocked traffic in broad portions of northern India, killing more than 100 people over two weeks.
A state government statement stated at least 88 people perished, 42 of them in the last five days, and more than 100 were injured in the worst-hit Himachal Pradesh state, where cars, buses, bridges, and residences were washed away by swirling flood waters. The area is approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of New Delhi.
According to Shishir Singh, a state government spokeswoman, twelve persons have perished in rain-related accidents in Uttar Pradesh since Wednesday.
According to Singh, nine of them drowned, two were killed by lightning, and one was killed by a snake bite.
According to officials, one person was murdered in New Delhi and four were slain in the Indian-controlled sector of Kashmir.
Authorities deployed helicopters to rescue over 300 people, mostly tourists, who had been stranded in the Himachal Pradesh state’s Chandertal district since Saturday. According to the authorities, these included seven sick persons who were flown on Tuesday.
According to the state emergency operations center, about 170 houses have fallen and another 600 have been partially damaged by severe rains and landslides throughout the state.
In New Delhi, residential neighborhoods near the Jamuna River flooded, drowning roads, automobiles, and homes, forcing thousands of people to flee low-lying areas.
During the morning rush hour in New Delhi on Thursday, dozens of automobiles were stopped by sheets of water, causing traffic chaos.
According to a statement from the office of New Delhi’s top elected official, Arvind Kejriwal, the water level of the Jamuna River flowing through the Indian capital surpassed a 40-year record and reached 207.71 metres (681.5 feet) on Wednesday evening.
According to the statement, authorities have transferred about 30,000 people to relief camps and converted several schools into relief camps in the worst-hit districts. Hundreds of people and their cattle have taken refuge under overhead road bridges in the Indian capital’s eastern outskirts.
Rajesh Singh, the proprietor of a factory, was stranded on his motorcycle for hours due to floodwater obstructing both sides of the road along the river bank. “I have never seen anything like this in the past 22 years.”
“New Delhi hasn’t seen much rain in the last two days,” Kejriwal added, “but the river level has risen due to abnormally high levels of water discharge from the Hathni Kund barrage in neighboring Haryana state.”
More severe rains are expected in northern India in the following days, according to India’s weather service. It stated that monsoon rains have already provided around 2% more rainfall than usual over the country.
During the monsoon season, which lasts from June to September and produces the majority of South Asia’s yearly rainfall, severe floods are common in India. Rains are essential for rain-fed crops grown throughout the season, yet they frequently cause considerable damage.
Scientists believe that climate change and global warming are causing monsoons to become increasingly irregular, resulting in frequent landslides and flash floods in India’s Himalayan north.