Delhi rain fury may continue; cloudbursts in Himachal and Uttarakhand claim over 10 lives, ‘Venice-like’ scenes unfold

Many cities and hilly areas witnessed distressing scenes on Thursday after extremely heavy rainfall, accompanied by cloudbursts, lashed several parts of the country over the past two days. Harrowing visuals circulating on social media showed water leaking at the new Parliament building in Delhi.

Rivers overflowed in Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and Karnataka, causing flooding and disruption in these regions. In Uttarakhand, around 450 Kedarnath-bound pilgrims have been stranded due to the heavy rainfall, adding to the woes of the affected. Meanwhile, severely waterlogged streets in Delhi and Gurgaon have made commuting a challenging task.

Here's all you need to know about the rain mayhem being witnessed across the country on Thursday, August 1:

1. Himachal Pradesh

• Five people reportedly died and about 50 people were missing following a cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi, Shimla and Kullu. Officials said rain had washed away several houses, bridges, and roads on Thursday. All educational institutions and schools in the district have been closed for two days, said Deputy Commissioner Kullu, Torul S Raveesh.
• A video shared by news agency PTI showed a building collapsing and getting washed away in the raging Parvati River in Kullu on Thursday. Meanwhile, the water level on the Beas River rose due to incessant rainfall. A breach was also reported in Malana Dam, but the situation is under control.

• “A cloudburst at Samej Khud (nallah) in the Rampur subdivision of the Shimla district left two people dead and about 30 missing,” Superintendent of Police (SP), Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI. “Another cloudburst in the Rajban village near Terang in the Padhar subdivision of the Mandi district on Wednesday night left two persons dead and eight missing. Two houses were washed away while another was damaged,” officials said.

• Amid the heavy downfall, the Shimla-Junga road was closed due to a landslide. Reports of vehicles being buried in debris in Rajnagar in Churah assembly constituency in Chamba and roads blocked in Hamirpur district have also poured in. An official told PTI that the Manali-Chandigarh National Highway has been damaged at several places due to landslides.
• Some people are stuck in the Malana I hydropower project. The official said they are in underground buildings and safe, and NDRF and Home Guard teams are trying to rescue them. She added that the Manali-Chandigarh National Highway has been breached at numerous places due to landslides and the gushing waters of the River Beas.

• Shimla's meteorological office issued a "red alert" for heavy to extremely heavy rain, thunderstorms, and lightning at isolated places in three districts of Kangra, Kullu, and Mandi on Thursday. The wet spell will continue for the next four days in the state. Data recorded until Tuesday showed that rain-related incidents had claimed 65 lives since the onset of the monsoon on June 27. “The state has also suffered losses to the tune of ₹433 crore,” according to the state's Emergency Operation Centre.

Uttarakhand

• Uttarakhand State Disaster Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said on Thursday that at least 10 people died, and two bridges were washed away on the Kedarnath route following heavy rain in the area. “All the routes of Chardham are open; only the footpath in Kedarnath has been obstructed. 100 other routes are obstructed; efforts are being made continuously to open them,” the Chief secretary said.

• According to PTI, 450 pilgrims bound for Kedarnath were stranded beyond Bhimbali along the Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route when 20-25 metres of the stretch were washed out by heavy rain on Wednesday night. Disaster Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said 200 passengers stranded on the Kedarnath route due to falling stones and the washing away the stretch near the Bhimbali Chowki have been moved to safer places.

• District Magistrate Rudraprayag Dr Saurabh Gaharwar said that when information was received about pilgrims being stranded on the Kedarnath Yatra route, they were brought to safer places, and arrangements for food and medical facilities were made for them. He said that by 1 pm on Thursday, about 300 pilgrims had been brought to safer places.
• Meanwhile, Reuters reported that rescue workers saved over 1,000 people stranded in different locations on the Kedarnath route.
• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also reached the disaster-affected areas of the Rudraprayag and Kedarnath route, where roads broke due to river erosions and heavy rains on Thursday. During the inspection, he directed the District Magistrate Rudraprayag to speed up repairing the damaged roads and footpaths. He said that people from affected places should soon be brought to safe places.
• Dhami also met the devotees and inquired about their well-being. He directed the District Magistrate Rudraprayag to bring the devotees stranded on the Yatra route to safe places and provide food and other essential facilities as soon as possible. The Chief Minister also directed to make a complete assessment of the damage caused by heavy rains in the affected area.

Delhi-NCR

• Light to moderate rainfall continued to lash Delhi NCR on Thursday after heavy rainfall waterlogged key areas in the national capital on Wednesday. News agency ANI reported that a wall of a private school in Daryaganj collapsed due to heavy rainfall Wednesday night, damaging vehicles parked in the vicinity.
• Meanwhile, a water leak was reported in the new Parliament building. The Lok Sabha Secretariat said it was due to the displacement of an adhesive material used to fix glass domes over the lobby, and corrective measures were taken immediately. The leak was later repaired.
• Besides, the waterlogging situation in the Old Rajinder Nagar area in Delhi is under the limelight after three UPSC aspirants died in a basement at a coaching centre in the area last week. The three students lost their lives after the basement was filled with water following heavy rainfall in the Rajinder Nagar area. A similar situation prevailed on Wednesday when rains lashed parts of NCR on Thursday.
• Many social media users took to X to share visuals of waterlogged streets in Gurugram. They compared the flood situation with the scenes from Venice and even said Gurugram is giving a "competition to backwaters of Kerela".
• One such post read, "Works on simple principle: Every #Rain more, you pay more water for your little Venice. Living in the poshest, costliest area doesn't make you immune to water logging. It's still raining; can you imagine what tomorrow morning will bring?"

Another read, “Who says #GurgaonRains make us look like venice we even give a competition to backwaters of Kerela with our own post #Rain #Gurugram backwaters. Get out of cars and glide over the channels wondering what we get after contributingbfor 75 percent of #Haryana's revenue.”

• The capital, Delhi, received intense rainfall late on Wednesday, totalling 147 mm (5.8 inches) in eastern parts of the city and its suburbs, the India Meteorological Department said. At least seven people died in Delhi, according to local media.

Karnataka

• Heavy rainfall in the Cauvery catchment area led to the stepping up of the outflow from the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini dam, the Hindu reported on Wednesday.
• A fresh flood warning was issued for people living downstream of the two dams. The low-lying areas are in the districts of Mandya, Mysuru, and Chamarajanagar, and people living along the riverbanks have been asked to relocate to safer places.
• Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi, Mohammad Roshan said on Thursday, "...we have already created an ample buffer in Almatti dam by letting off 3.25 cusec water in the last four days. Now, we are ready for the outflow from Maharashtra, due to heavy rain in Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur districts, which will flow into the River Krishna and into the Almatti dam."
• He said that in Belagavi district, so far, 55 villages have faced partial inundation and about 7,000 people were shifted to relief camps.