Heavy rains lashed western and central parts of India on Sunday while a cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir led to the closure of the arterial Srinagar-Leh national highway, cutting off the Kashmir Valley from Ladakh and rendering the Baltal base camp for the Amarnath Yatra inaccessible.The death toll in last week’s landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad and Himachal Pradesh rose to 221 and 11, respectively, while more than 370 people, including pilgrims, stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath, were evacuated.
So far, more than 10,000 people have been rescued from Kedarnath, Bhimbali and Gaurikund. The trek route to Kedarnath suffered extensive damage as a result of a cloudburst in Junglechatti near Lincholi last Wednesday.
Army personnel were deployed at an inundated residential area in Maharashtra’s Pune amid heavy downpours and water discharge from the Khadakwasla dam, officials said.
In view of the discharge of water from Khadakwasla, Mulshi, Pavana and other dams in the Pune region, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed authorities to be alert and shift people from dangerous zones to safer places with the assistance of NDRF, SDRF and the Army, if needed.
Officials of Maharashtra’s irrigation department said 35,000 cusecs of water was discharged from the Khadakwasla dam following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas in the past fortnight. The ghat section in Pune district received heavy rainfall in the last two days.