The monsoon remained active in the Himalayan foothills, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, even as it withdrew further from more parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. Heavy to very heavy rainfall was likely to continue in Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim for next two days.
Two people were missing, shops were washed away as heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand triggered floods, water logging, landslides that disrupted traffic along key highways in the early hours of Tuesday and prompted the authorities to activate the Incident Response System, a standardised disaster management mechanism.
Three members of a family were killed and a bus stand was submerged in Mandi as heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh. One person was reported missing as vehicles were swept away in Mandi.
The monsoon normally withdraws from Punjab, Haryana and surrounding areas by September 25 bringing fair weather ahead of autumn.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the line of the monsoon withdrawal was passing through Bhatinda (Punjab), Fatehabad (Haryana), Pilani, Ajmer, (Rajasthan) Deesa and Bhuj (Gujarat).
Private forecaster Skymet Weather vice president Mahesh Palawat said the withdrawal was early from the western India but continues to be active in other parts. “There is a feeble western disturbance over the Western Himalayan region. There is also a cyclonic circulation.”
He said moisture laden winds were blowing over the northern region and there may be the last spell of heavy rain in the hills. “Moisture feed will gradually decrease and rain will stop. In Delhi, there may be light rain after September 22…monsoon will retreat quickly.”
Isolated heavy rainfall was expected in Himachal Pradesh, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand until Wednesday. Heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy rain (≥21 cm) has been recorded at isolated places in Uttarakhand and Meghalaya since Monday. Very heavy rainfall (12-20 cm) has been recorded at isolated places in East Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Marathwada, Tamil Nadu and Rayalaseema.
IMD director general M Mohapatra last week said the monsoon withdrawal commencement is near normal this time. “So we cannot really say it is early in that sense. We can declare commencement of withdrawal when rainfall stops, humidity reduces and there are anticyclonic winds. We are expecting such conditions in West Rajasthan from September 15.”
Disasters linked to heavy rain have killed hundreds across the Himalayan regions as they recorded the wettest August since 2001. IMD anticipated good, above-normal rainfall this month and warned of episodic cloudbursts, mudslides, and landslides. It asked the authorities to be prepared.
The warning came amid large-scale devastation across Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab, where incessant rainfall triggered landslides, flash floods, road cave-ins, and infrastructure collapse last month.
The disasters included the Dharali village flood (Uttarakhand), and cloudbursts and flooding in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Most of India was expected to receive normal to above-normal rainfall in September, except northeastern and eastern regions, southern peninsular areas, and northernmost districts, where below-normal precipitation was likely.
In August, northwest India recorded 265 millimetres of rain, the highest since 2001 and the 13th highest since 1901. The southern peninsula logged its third-highest August rainfall since 2001.
On August 20, Jammu’s Udhampur district recorded 630 millimetres of rain on August 27.
Five weather disturbances intensified rain over the Himalayan states and northwestern plains in August, creating active to vigorous monsoon conditions. Three such interactions in August directly contributed to the deadly incidents across the region.
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