New Delhi | The monsoon kept people across India on their toes on Sunday, grounding flights, flooding roads and claiming one life in Mumbai, while Kerala was on high alert for floods and landslides, and Odisha and Himachal on the lookout for heavy rain.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression and is expected to cross the north Odisha coast within the next 24 hours, setting the stage for widespread heavy to very heavy rainfall across eastern India.
The financial capital took the hardest hit of the monsoon's fury as heavy overnight rain and gusty winds forced the suspension of runway operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for an hour.
Four IndiGo flights were cancelled and 13 incoming flights were diverted before returning later. Flight tracking data showed around 90 per cent of departing flights were delayed by an average of more than an hour, while nearly half the arriving flights were also delayed.
The IMD retained a red alert after several areas received over 200 mm of rain, with some recording nearly 300 mm in 24 hours.
Heavy rain also led to waterlogging, traffic jams and tree falling incidents. A 63-year-old man died after a tree collapsed on a shop in Kurla, marking the second fatal tree-fall incident in Mumbai within a week.
The civic administration has declared a holiday for all government, private and civic-run schools and colleges in Mumbai on Monday in view of an 'orange alert' for heavy rain.
Odisha placed all districts on high alert, with the IMD issuing a red warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall in Sambalpur, Angul, Boudh, Sonepur and Kandhamal. Orange and yellow alerts were issued for the remaining districts.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea till July 7 because of rough to very rough conditions.
The neighbouring West Bengal is also expected to receive widespread rainfall as the weather system moves inland over the next few days.
Most parts of Kerala received widespread rain on Sunday, putting several areas across the state on orange and yellow alert.
The IMD issued orange alerts for Kannur and Kasaragod on July 6 and for Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod on July 7, while yellow alerts remained in force for several northern districts.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority urged people living in landslide, mudslide and flash flood-prone areas to move to safer locations if advised by authorities. Emergency control rooms have been activated across the state.
In Himachal Pradesh, light to moderate rain continued across several districts, prompting the the local weather office to issue an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall over parts of the state during the next two days.
Ghamroor recorded the highest rainfall at 84.2 mm, followed by Dharamshala with 39.2 mm. Himachal has received 44.2 mm rainfall against the normal of 27.2 mm since July 1, an excess of 63 per cent.
Thunderstorms and lightning were reported from parts of Kangra and neighbouring areas, while Bilaspur remained the hottest place in the state at 36 degrees Celsius.
On Sunday, Delhi witnessed its warmest July day in two years, with the maximum temperature touching 38.6 degrees Celsius despite afternoon showers in several areas.
Chhatarpur received the highest rainfall in at 49 mm, resulting in waterlogging in parts of the locality. Gurugram recorded 35 mm rainfall, while showers were also reported from Mehrauli, Greater Noida, Najafgarh and Janakpuri.
The IMD has issued an orange alert for Delhi on Monday and forecast moderate rainfall as the monsoon trough is expected to shift back towards northwest India.
In the neighbouring Haryana, rain waterlogged several parts of Gurugram, from Narsinghpur, Rajiv Chowk, AIT Chowk, Khandsa Road to old Gurugram. Officials, however, said city underpasses remained operational.
Elsewhere in Haryana and Punjab, humid conditions continued even as the southwest monsoon advanced across the region.
Haryana's Sirsa recorded a high of 40.8 degrees Celsius, while Bathinda in Punjab registered 40.3 degrees Celsius. The IMD said conditions remain favourable for the monsoon to cover the remaining parts of both states within the next three days.
In Uttar Pradesh, the first significant monsoon showers also exposed infrastructure concerns after a portion of a road connecting the Ganga Expressway with the Kanpur-Lucknow National Highway in Unnao caved in.
Rain also lashed parts of the state. Muzaffarnagar received 9 mm rainfall, while Prayagraj and Varanasi airport recorded 8.8 mm each. Despite the rain, Lucknow remained hot and humid with the maximum temperature reaching 39 degrees Celsius.
The IMD forecast more showers accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning over the next 24 hours.
In Jharkhand, the IMD forecast light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds across the state over the next four days.
Yellow alerts have been issued for all districts from July 6 to 9, with heavy rainfall likely in several western and northeastern districts on different days.
The IMD said the depression over the Bay of Bengal is likely to keep the monsoon active over eastern, central and parts of northern India over the coming days, bringing widespread rainfall even as authorities across several states remain on alert for flooding, landslides, waterlogging and disruptions to normal life.
