Assam Flood Affects 25L, Delhi House Crumbles, U'khand Bridge Collapses: India Struggles as Rain Wreaks Havoc

A 56-year-old man died allegedly due to drowning after his mini-truck was submerged in water under the Minto Bridge and a house near a slum area collapsed near ITO, following a heavy downpour in the city on Sunday, police said.

The man, identified as Kundan Kumar, was a resident of Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. He was driving a Tata Ace from the New Delhi Railway Station to Connaught Place when he got stuck in the waterlogged area, they said.

A house collapsed in the slum area of Anna Nagar near ITO. Reports stated that no one was present in the house at the time of the incident. Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) and fire engines were present at the spot.

The national capital received its first spell of heavy rains, which led to waterlogging in low-lying areas and brought traffic to a standstill at key stretches in the city.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari alleged that the AAP government's preparations have been exposed by the first spell of monsoon rains.

In a tweet in Hindi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, "This year, all agencies, be it Delhi government or MCD (civic body), were busy in prevention of COVID-19. They faced many difficulties due to corona. This is not the time to blame each other. All have to fulfil their responsibilities together. Wherever there is waterlogging, we will try to pump out water immediately."

Later, in another tweet, the chief minister said water had been drained from the Minto Bridge. Kejriwal said he had been in touch with the agencies and monitoring the process of removing water from there.

In Himachal Pradesh, locals of the Badseri Village were rescued from Kharoghla Nalla in Kinnaur after flash floods were triggered by heavy rainfall in the region.

Heavy rains continued its havoc in Uttrakhand as water from Gori river washed away four houses, and large tracts of cultivable land at Chori Bagar village in Bangapani sub division of the district, an official said on Sunday.

A portion of a bridge also collapsed at Madkhot on Pithoragarh Munsyari road, following incessant rainfall on Sunday.

However, there was no casualty as occupants of the houses had been evacuated to safety in advance, the official said.

All the main motor roads that link the district headquarters to the sub divisions of Bangapani, Munsiyari and Dharchula in the border district are closed following heavy rains on Saturday night.

The affected families have been provided 20 kgs of ration and other essentials besides a sum of Rs 1.19 lakh as compensation, SDM in charge of Bangapani, AK Shukla said.

The Badrinath Highway was blocked due to rainfall-induced landslide in Bhanerpani and Pipalkoti area. Chamoli district administration and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were reported to be clearing the highway and distributed water bottles and biscuits to the stranded passengers.

In Southern India, water overflowed and entered into residential areas of Chellanam, a coastal village in Kochi due to the monsoon rains.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured all support to Assam in dealing with the flood havoc, which has claimed 81 lives so far this year.

An official at the Chief Minister's Office said that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal informed Modi about all the measures the state has taken so far in dealing with the problems faced by the people.

The total number of people killed in this year's flood and landslide has gone up to 107 across the state, of whom 81 were killed in flood-related incidents and 26 died due to landslides, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in its morning bulletin.

Floods have hit over 27 lakh people in 26 of the 33 districts of Assam and destroyed houses, crops, roads and bridges at several places.

"We are taking all steps for damage mitigation of the flood affected people along with adequate healthcare facilities. I have urged district admin to provide necessary relief measures on a war-footing and ensure social distancing in the area," Sonowal said in a tweet.

The country has received six per cent more rainfall than normal so far in this monsoon season, but precipitation in parts of north India remains deficient, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.

The IMD has four meteorological divisions and rainfall has been more than normal in the south peninsula, central India, and east and northeast India divisions.

But the northwest India division, which covers Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan, has recorded a 19 per cent deficiency, according to the IMD.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)