The southwest monsoon brought much-needed relief from the lingering heat across several parts of the country but also left in its wake a trail of death and disruption on Thursday, with at least six people killed in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Heavy showers triggered flash floods, landslides, traffic disruptions and weather alerts across several states.
Three persons were killed in separate rain-related accidents in Shimla and Chamba districts, while one death was reported in Mandi district, according to State Emergency Operations Centre data.
A bus conductor named Gyan Chand, a resident of Mandi district, was killed in the Udaipur area of Lahaul and Spiti district after falling stones from a hillside hit him, according to the State Emergency Operations Centre.
Heavy rainfall also triggered flash floods in Chamba district, washing away a temporary wooden bridge near a temple in the Bharmour subdivision and leaving around 30 pilgrims stranded, officials said.
The Shimla Meteorological Centre has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places across the state from July 2 to 5, except on July 3.
In Mumbai, a 55-year-old man died after falling into an open manhole amid heavy rain, prompting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to suspend four civic officials and order a high-level inquiry.
CCTV footage captured the man, identified as Shaikh, talking on his mobile phone before he walked past a parked tempo and disappeared into the uncovered manhole. The cover had been temporarily removed by three contractual workers carrying out maintenance work.
The workers lowered a ladder into the manhole in a bid to rescue him, but recovered only his umbrella and slippers. Officials said the strong flow of water made it impossible to immediately trace the direction in which he had been swept away. It was the second rain-related death reported in Mumbai this week.
Heavy rain since early Thursday inundated several parts of Mumbai, including Dadar, Parel, Hindmata, Charkop, Worli, Goregaon and Andheri, slowing vehicular traffic and disrupting the morning commute. Local train services were delayed by 10-15 minutes due to water accumulation on tracks, leading to overcrowding during peak hours.
After days of hovering on the capital’s doorstep, the monsoon finally arrived in Delhi, five days behind its normal onset date, bringing rain, overcast skies, a drop in temperatures and marking the city’s first July onset in five years.
Parts of the city received rainfall and cloudy skies, bringing relief and a drop in temperatures after days of heat waves and humidity.
The arrival also marks the first July onset of the monsoon over Delhi since 2021, when it reached the national capital on July 13. The IMD declared the onset of the monsoon over the region after favourable atmospheric conditions developed.
Even as heavy rain continued to batter several regions, authorities across states stepped up preparedness measures to minimise monsoon-related damage.
In Gujarat, police reviewed pre-monsoon preparedness and disaster management measures and deployed 1,036 personnel from 11 companies of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said it had identified vulnerable stretches in Himachal Pradesh prone to landslides, slope failures, flooding and debris accumulation, and undertaken preventive measures to ensure safe and uninterrupted traffic movement on national highways during the monsoon.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the Kishtwar district administration issued a weather advisory warning of heavy rain, thunderstorms, flash floods and landslides till Sunday, urging residents, particularly those living near riverbanks, to avoid vulnerable areas.
The administration said the prevailing weather conditions could trigger flash floods, landslides and mudslides at vulnerable locations and issued emergency helpline numbers for the public.
In Uttarakhand, moderate to heavy rainfall continued across most parts of the state, prompting the weather office to issue alerts for several districts, including Dehradun. Falling debris and stones disrupted traffic on the Badrinath National Highway in Chamoli district and the Kedarnath Yatra route in Rudraprayag district.
The administration temporarily suspended the movement of vehicles and pedestrians on the Sonprayag-Munkatiya stretch after falling stones blocked the Kedarnath Yatra route, while debris near Gulabkoti village between Chamoli and Joshimath blocked the Badrinath National Highway.
The flood situation in Assam improved on Thursday, with the number of affected people dropping to over 25,000 across two districts, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
Nearly 25,100 people remain affected in Dhemaji and Dibrugarh districts, with Dhemaji accounting for more than 21,000 of them. The flood-related death toll in the state this year remained unchanged at one.
Haryana and Punjab received intermittent showers, with maximum temperatures remaining significantly below normal, bringing much-needed respite from the scorching heat.
Although the southwest monsoon has now covered the entire Uttar Pradesh, the state continues to face a significant rainfall deficit, with cumulative seasonal precipitation remaining 45 per cent below the long-term average, according to the IMD.
The monsoon covered the state two days behind its normal June 30 schedule, but rainfall has remained below normal across both eastern and western Uttar Pradesh.
In Rajasthan, the southwest monsoon advanced into parts of the state seven days behind its normal onset, the weather office said, even as it forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in several eastern and southeastern districts over the coming days.
The MeT department has issued a heavy rainfall warning for parts of eastern Rajasthan, with moderate to heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms likely at isolated places in the Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Bharatpur and Jaipur divisions over the next five to seven days.
