A freaky weather with a fresh spell of rains across several parts of India, unusual during October, has wreaked havoc in the lives of commoners, farmers, wild animals, and also damaged the quality of soil as well as the agricultural products.
While a fresh spell of rain swept across Delhi and its neighbouring cities on Monday, following heavy overnight showers that drenched large parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), in contrast, the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh received snowfall for the second day on Monday, leading to a dip in the minimum temperature.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Delhi, Noida, and Ghaziabad, warning of moderate rainfall and thunderstorms through the day. Gurugram and Faridabad have been placed under a yellow alert, indicating the likelihood of light rain and strong winds.
West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh have been undergoing a fresh spell of rains, causing deaths in several places across these States, including a recent landslide in Darjeeling. Several places in Punjab and Haryana also received rainfall on Monday. Chandigarh, the common Capital of the two States, was also lashed by rain. The local meteorological department said that due to a western disturbance affecting northwest India, light to moderate rain is likely at most places in Punjab and Haryana on October 6 and 7.
Intermittent rains with thunderstorms have lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh since Sunday evening. A strong active western disturbance would impact the state for the next two days, and intermittent rains are expected in all the districts, with the possibility of heavy rains in Kangra and Chamba districts and snow in Lahaul and Spiti district, Director, Shimla MeT office, Kuldeep Srivastav, said.
Devastating floods triggered by torrential rains in north Bengal have swept away several wild animals from the forests of the Dooars region, with at least seven animal deaths reported so far, a senior forest department official said on Monday.
The weather department has issued a yellow alert for parts of Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, forecasting light to moderate showers accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning for the next few days, an official said on Monday. The southwest monsoon is likely to begin withdrawal from the region around October 10, he said.
A yellow alert has been issued for Nagpur, Wardha, Gondia, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, and Amravati districts, with a prediction of light to moderate rainfall, thunderstorms, and lightning at isolated or several locations starting Monday, the official said. Dr Praveen Kumar, scientist at the regional meteorological department in Nagpur, said that light to moderate rain spells are expected to continue across parts of Vidarbha for the next three days. A gradual decrease in rainfall intensity and spatial distribution is likely from October 9 or 10, he said.
Maharashtra NCP (SP) president Shashikant Shinde on Monday said six farmers in the Parbhani-Beed belt have committed suicide over the last weekend and sought a relief package from the Centre to tide over the damage caused by floods. Several parts of Maharashtra, especially Marathwada, have witnessed heavy rains for several days since September 20, causing crop damage over thousands of hectares and leaving lakhs of farmers in distress.
The recent floods in Punjab have altered the soil profile of the state, causing nutrient imbalances and potential threats to Rabi crop productivity, according to the Punjab Agricultural University.
Punjab faced one of its worst flood disasters in decades, primarily due to the swollen Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi Rivers, along with seasonal rivulets resulting from heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, heavy rains in Punjab exacerbated the flooding situation.