Warning issued for heavy rain in Bihar, red alert in North-East, possibility of light rain in Delhi:

News Topical, Digital Desk : The Meteorological Department has warned of heavy rain in many states including Bihar for Saturday. A red alert has been issued in Assam, Meghalaya and North Bengal. There is an alert of storm and very heavy rain in these places. At the same time, an orange alert has been issued in Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh regarding rain and storm. At the same time, there is a possibility of light rain in Delhi. A yellow alert has been issued regarding rain in the eastern states of the country including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. However, the weather is expected to remain normal in the western parts of the country.

The IMD said that the satellite animation of Friday night shows that warm winds are rapidly advancing towards colder areas over north Punjab, west Uttar Pradesh, east Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, south Chhattisgarh, north Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep Islands area. In this process, light to moderate rainfall is likely at many places over Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, north Chhattisgarh and northeastern states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with occasional heavy rains during night hours.

Light rain likely in Delhi

The weather department has forecast generally cloudy skies and moderate rain in Delhi on Saturday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 35 and 25 degrees Celsius respectively, the department said. Despite light rain on Friday, Delhi experienced humid weather with the relative humidity level hovering between 90 and 91 per cent. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature was recorded at 33.3 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. Rainfall was limited.

Delhi's air has improved

Safdarjung recorded 17 mm rainfall in 24 hours till Friday evening. There was no heavy rainfall despite the sky being cloudy. Meanwhile, the air quality in the city remained in the 'satisfactory' category. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded the overall AQI at 6 pm at 58.

Chandigarh-Manali highway closed in Himachal Pradesh

Several roads were blocked on Friday due to floods and landslides caused by rain in Himachal Pradesh. Officials said the Chandigarh-Manali and Manali-Leh national highways were closed, causing inconvenience to commuters and creating traffic jams. They said a taxi driver named Jaikishan, a resident of Chandigarh, was injured and his vehicle damaged due to a landslide at Kainch Mor near Pandoh Dam in Mandi district. According to officials, a portion of the Shivabadar road caved in, blocking the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway 21 and completely cutting off road connectivity to the village. A long traffic jam occurred with vehicles stranded on both sides of the road and as a precautionary measure, vehicles are being stopped at the Pandoh Dam. Machines have also been brought to the site, but repair work has been hampered due to intermittent rain.

Manali-Leh highway is also closed

Mandi Superintendent of Police Sakshi Verma said that as soon as the rain stops, traffic will be restored on one side of the road. Manali-Leh National Highway 3 was closed here at Jispah in Lahaul and Spiti district due to flooding in Masheran Nallah and large stones and debris scattered on the road. Videos of debris falling on the road are also being circulated and the flood here has destroyed the fields of many people. Lahaul and Spiti MLA Anuradha Rana said that machines have been taken to remove the debris from the road and the administration is engaged in the work.

291 roads closed

One-way traffic has been restored on the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway 21 near Samlatu in Bilaspur district, which was blocked due to landslides. At present, the other side of the road is completely covered with debris. In view of the increasing incidents of landslides, Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar has cautioned local residents and tourists to travel only if absolutely necessary. Himachal Pradesh received 250.3 mm of rain in July, which is two per cent less than the average rainfall of 255.9 mm. The local weather office on Friday issued a 'yellow' alert for heavy rains in isolated areas of three to 10 districts of the state till Tuesday. According to the State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC), a total of 291 roads in the state, including 171 roads in the disaster-hit Mandi district, were closed on Thursday evening.