What Has Triggered Fresh Spell Of Rain In Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh?

As many as 21 people have been killed in Himachal over the past 48 hours

The heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand over the past couple of days is the result of a fresh spell of Western Disturbance, the weather office has said.

“The location of the Monsoon trough lies along the foothills of Himalayas and hence the South-westerly Arabian Sea monsoonal winds are hitting the Himalayan foothills,” the Indian Meteorological Department has said, explaining the phenomenon.

A Western Disturbance refers to a storm that originates in the Mediterranean and brings heavy rain to mountain areas in the Indian subcontinent.

Weather experts the NDTV spoke to said that many areas in Himachal are already vulnerable following the monsoon fury and even moderate rainfall in these areas can trigger landslides.

As many as 21 people have been killed in Himachal over the past 48 hours after heavy rain washed away homes and triggered the collapse of a temple in Shimla. The temple collapse has claimed nine lives and at least 25 others are feared trapped. The fresh spell of rain has triggered landslides, hitting road connectivity.

The state is now bracing for more showers as the weather office has predicted heavy rain over the next two days.

Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has appealed to people to stay indoors and said efforts to restore connectivity at the earliest are being made.

In Uttarakhand, heavy rain has caused loss to property. A video showing floodwaters wash away a multi-storeyed college building has gone viral, capturing the scale of the calamity.

Alaknanda, Mandakini and Ganga rivers are flowing above the danger level at Rudraprayag, Shrinagar and Devprayag, the disaster control room in Dehradun said. The Badrinath National highway is blocked at several places due to landslides.

The fresh spell of torrential rain comes as the hill states were limping back to normalcy following the monsoon fury a month back that led to huge loss of life and property.