New Delhi : With the southwest monsoon now covering the entire country, heavy rain continued to batter several states on Friday, flooding roads, triggering landslides and forcing school closures, even as the India Meteorological Department warned that the wet spell is set to continue. In Delhi, torrential rain on Thursday inundated several areas, uprooted trees and triggered major traffic snarls.
Uttarakhand is expected to receive extremely heavy rain at isolated places on Friday, with the Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers flowing in spate. Schools in Rudraprayag district were shut for the day as authorities kept a close watch on river levels. The Char Dham Yatra was also hit after a landslide at Nalu Pani in Uttarkashi district blocked the Gangotri Highway and brought traffic to a halt. Road-clearing teams have been pressed into service and restoration work is underway.
In Himachal Pradesh, heavy rain continued to disrupt normal life. According to the State Disaster Management Authority, 75 roads remained blocked till Thursday evening, while 29 electricity transformers and five water supply schemes were affected. Shimla and Sirmaur districts are likely to receive more heavy rain on Friday. The IMD has issued a red alert for parts of western Uttar Pradesh, warning of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall on Friday. The wet spell is expected to continue across the state till July 11, with temperatures likely to dip by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius.
Authorities ordered schools to remain shut on Friday in Ghaziabad, Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Saharanpur and Moradabad as a precautionary measure. In Prayagraj, officials stepped up flood preparedness as continuous rain pushed up river levels. District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said some rivers were nearing the danger mark, although the rivers that usually trigger major flooding were still below critical levels.
Surat is slowly returning to normal after 358 mm of rain in 24 hours triggered widespread flooding and forced evacuations across the city. As water levels began to recede, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the affected areas and directed officials to work out a long-term plan to tackle recurring flooding.
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