IMD flags flood risk as heavy rain to continue across India
Rainfall likely to remain widespread across central, eastern and northeastern India through 17 August, with very heavy rain forecast in parts of Rajasthan, Odisha and the Western Himalayas
A LOW-pressure area over North-west Madhya Pradesh is likely to trigger isolated very heavy rainfall over East Rajasthan on 12 August, while another system is expected to form over the North-west Bay of Bengal around the same time, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
The Bay of Bengal system is likely to bring isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over Odisha during 12–13 August. The Western Himalayan region is also expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on most days of the week.
Rainfall activity is likely to remain widespread across central, eastern, and north-eastern India over the coming week, with several states expected to receive showers through 17 August, according to the IMD.
The increase in rainfall activity is likely to help narrow India’s cumulative monsoon rainfall deficit, currently at 12% as on 10 August. The country received 472.6mm of rainfall from 1 June to 10 August, compared with the long-period average of 535.6mm.
In North-west India, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand are likely to receive fairly widespread to widespread rainfall during 12–17 August. East Rajasthan is expected to see widespread rain during 12–13 August, while Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi are likely to receive rain on 12 August and 14–15 August.
Flood risk
The IMD has also flagged a low flash-flood risk in parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand over the next 24 hours, citing saturated soils and the possibility of surface runoff and inundation in low-lying areas.
In Himachal Pradesh, districts including Chamba, Kangra, Mandi, Kullu, Shimla and Kinnaur are likely to face flash-flood risks, while Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand may face flooding. Surface runoff or inundation may occur at some fully saturated soils and low-lying areas in these districts.
West Madhya Pradesh is likely to receive fairly widespread to widespread rainfall during 12–15 August, while Chhattisgarh and East Madhya Pradesh are expected to see such rainfall through 17 August. Vidarbha is likely to receive widespread rainfall on 12–13 August and again on 17 August.
In eastern India, widespread rainfall is forecast over Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal during 12–17 August, while Jharkhand, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim are likely to receive rain during 12–17 August. Bihar could see widespread rainfall from 14–17 August.
Northeastern states are also likely to remain wet, with widespread rainfall forecast over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam-Meghalaya during 12–17 August and over Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura throughout the period.
Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, the IMD said exceptionally heavy rainfall of at least 30cm was recorded over East Rajasthan, while West Madhya Pradesh received extremely heavy rainfall of 21cm or more. Very heavy rainfall of 12–20cm was recorded over Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Heavy rainfall of 7–11cm was also reported over Gangetic West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, West Rajasthan, Madhya Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Tripura.
