Weather News: 14 Feared Dead After Flash Floods in HP's Mandi

 The 800-metre-long railway bridge over the Chakki river in Pathankot on Punjab-Himachal border collapsed today after a flash flood washed away a pillar of the bridge. Train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar, that was first commissioned by the British in 1928, was halted last month after cracked were seen on the bridge.

There were also reports of water entering several homes and shops in Mandi district that received a fresh spell of rain this morning. Several vehicles were reportedly damaged and many residents have said to be trapped.Schools were also ordered to be shut in Kullu in Himachal Pradesh due to incessant rains. The Himachal Pradesh disaster management had issued a warning for landslides due to heavy rains that are said to continue in Himachal till August 25.

An incident of cloudburst was reported in Raipur block in Dehradun district. SDRF team were immediately rushed to spot and everyone stuck in the village were rescued while some took shelter in a resort nearby, according to the SDRF.

A section of a bridge that connects Raipur in outer Dehradun with the Dehradun airport has been washed out due to severe flooding.

In Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, River Ganga is currently flowing close to danger mark.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the yatra to the Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district was temporarily suspended on Friday evening following heavy rain. The Chief Executive Officer of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said there was no report of any casualty or damage. Yatra to the shrine has now resumed.

In J&K’s Udhampur district, 2 children died as a mud house collapsed due to landslides in Samole village in Muttal area. Rescue teams after recovered the dead bodies from the debris of the collapsed house, according to the Udhampur Administration.

The depression in the Bay of Bengal intensified into a deep depression bringing rainfall in Odisha and West Bengal according to the IMD which rejected the possibility of a cyclone for now.

There is no possibility of a cyclone this time. We have never said that the system will take the shape of a cyclone,” IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra told PTI. According to the IMD, North Odisha is set to receive the maximum rainfall while rain intensity is set to increase in western districts as well. The IMD had also issued a Red alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall, with isolated extremely heavy rain, for Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts among several areas of Odisha.

The depression over the Bay of Bengal impacted parts of Jharkhand with the Ranchi Meteorological Centre issuing a red alert for parts of the state, where heavy rainfall is expected to continue in many parts of the state today. Red alert has been issued for Saraikela-Kharswan, East and West Singhbhum districts, according to officials, who predicted heavy to very heavy rain in some districts in west and central Jharkhand as well.

The Meteorological Department also predicted a fresh round of heavy rains for parts of Rajasthan starting this weekend after a new pressure system was formed along the coast of Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh. According to the MET department, the new weather system is very likely to intensify further into a deep depression and move in a west-northwest direction through Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the next one or two days. Parts of Kota, Udaipur, Jaipur, Bharatpur and Ajmer divisions are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall. The IMD also predicts that there would be an increase in rain activities in the districts of Jodhpur, Bikaner division over the weekend.