Several states continue to suffer under heavy rains as monsoon gained strength on Wednesday. While Mumbai received record rainfall, several regions of Telangana too witnessed monsoon fury prompting India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue warnings.
Himachal Pradesh, one of the worst-hit this season, will continue to receive more rains, said IMD.
In Mumbai, schools and other educational institutions will continue to remain shut after the weather agency sounded red alert for Thursday. Besides Mumbai, red alert is in place for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. Heavy to very-heavy rainfall is forecasted at a few places and extremely-heavy rainfall at isolated places till Thursday afternoon, the BMC said in a statement.
Several areas, including Fort, Colaba, Nariman Point, Elphinstone Road, Grant Road, and suburbs including Andheri, Marol, Jogeshwari, and Goregaon received more than 100 mm of rainfall in 12 hours ended at 8 pm on Wednesday. The island city, eastern suburbs, and western suburbs received an average rainfall of 92.82 mm, 80.13 mm, and 94.13 mm, respectively, during the same period, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Telangana
As for Telangana, heavy downpour has left the rivers in spate, threatening flooding. The continuous rains also caused disruption of power supply across the state. The districts of Mulugu, Kothagudem, Khammam, Karimnagar, Suryapet and Wanaparthy received heavy rainfall on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, over 40 tourists, stranded at the Mutyala Dhara waterfall in Mulugu district, have been rescued. "We verified with every group and no one is left behind now. They have been given water and medical services. One boy got a minor scorpion bite and he has been treated. 90% of tourists' health is fine," ANI quoted a Mulugu senior police official.
#WATCH | Telangana: Rescue work has been completed. A total of 80 stranded tourists have been rescued from the Mutyala Dhara waterfall. We verified with every group and no one is left behind now. They have been given water and medical services. One boy got a minor scorpion bite… pic.twitter.com/iG0vnmk7O2
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2023
The tourists were on an adventurous journey to the waterfall when they found the surge gaining strength. They were stranded at a higher ground and began panicking as night fell. Authorities responded immediately and NDRF was deployed. The officials and local police braved the darkness and the rising waters to rescue the tourists.
Himachal Pradesh
An orange alert is also in place for Himachal Pradesh, which has been witnessing heavy showers for the past few days. Nine districts, including Shimla, Solan and Mandi, will receive more rains. "We have issued orange alerts for the Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una districts during the next three days. The rain will continue in the near future. If we see the records of the past 100 years, this year will be the highest rainfall year as it has broken all old records so far in the state," said Surender Paul, head of IMD (Shimla), on Wednesday.
He added that there was still a possibility of landslides, and the monsoon will continue till September. "Monsoon so far there has been 530 mm of rainfall which is very high. We have received 734 mm of rain during the monsoon. We have received 70% prescription of the total rainfall. We have two more months of the monsoon season. We have issued an advisory and have also issued an orange alert," Paul added.
