Over dozen killed as rains continue to lash parts of India

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - More than a dozen people were killed in northern India over the last two days, as heavy rains continued to lash parts of the country, officials said on Sunday.

Authorities in the northern Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh said on Sunday that three people died in a landslide in the Shimla district of the state.

Police said that various roads have been blocked for traffic after heavy rains caused landslides in the state and that there is “danger due to the increase in the water level of rivers and drains."

India Meteorological Department said on Sunday that stations reported "heavy to very heavy rainfall during the last 24 hours.

The department records showed on Sunday that New Delhi recorded the highest single-day rainfall for July since 1982.

Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday people were very "upset" due to water logging and officers of all departments have been instructed "to cancel the Sunday holiday and get on the ground."

Delhi's local fire and emergency officials said they attended 15 “house collapse calls” in the capital in which one woman died.

On Saturday, several parts of the capital were waterlogged also causing long traffic jams in the capital.

Mahesh Palawat, the vice president of Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency, told Anadolu that the intensity of the monsoon rains is more in northern India.

"There are heavy rains taking place in parts of north India for the last two days and it will continue for 2-3 days," he said.

A senior official in northern Uttar Pradesh state told Anadolu that in the last 24 hours, at least seven people were killed in different parts of the state in rain-related incidents which include drowning and lighting as well.

Separately, Indian Army said two soldiers died after being swept away in a flash flood, while they were crossing a river during an area domination patrol in the Poonch region of Jammu and Kashmir.