Heavy rain likely in several states; IMD issues red alert for Himachal Pradesh

India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a red alert for Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir amid the likelihood of extremely heavy rainfall.

The weather office said isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy downpours is likely over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, Gujarat on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Madhya Maharashtra on Wednesday.

Orange alerts have also been issued for Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh, and Maharashtra.

The weather office said that several upper-air cyclonic circulations over Haryana, northeast Madhya Pradesh, southwest Rajasthan, north Chhattisgarh and the west-central Bay of Bengal are driving the current spell of widespread rainfall.

According to the IMD, active monsoon conditions are likely to persist over central and adjoining north peninsular India, east and northeast India during the next three to four days, while rainfall activity over south peninsular India is expected to remain subdued over the next seven days.

During the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Tuesday, very heavy rainfall was recorded at isolated places in West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana and coastal Karnataka.

Heavy rainfall was also reported from Odisha, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Vidarbha, east Rajasthan, Assam and south interior Karnataka.

The IMD warned that intense rainfall could trigger localised flooding, waterlogging in low-lying areas, disruption to traffic, reduced visibility, minor damage to vulnerable structures and kutcha roads, landslides in hilly regions and damage to horticulture and standing crops.

It also cautioned that riverine flooding may occur in some catchment areas.

The weather office advised people to check traffic conditions before travelling, avoid waterlogged areas and vulnerable structures, and follow local advisories issued by authorities.