Red alert issued for 'extremely heavy' rains in Mumbai; 6 more die in Bihar floods

Six more flood-related deaths were reported in Bihar on Tuesday, while heavy showers crippled Maharashtra's Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, and a 'red' alert was issued for "extremely heavy" rainfall in the city for Wednesday.

There was heavy rainfall in parts of Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal as well, and the weather department predicted fairly widespread downpour in Gujarat in the next three days.

In Tamil Nadu, over 200 people had to be evacuated in Nilgiris district following heavy downpour since Monday, and in the northern part of the country, 16 districts were affected by floods in Uttar Pradesh and rescue efforts were underway in rain-hit areas of Uttarakhand.

The death toll due to the floods in Bihar climbed to 19 on Tuesday as 63.60 lakh people are affected across 16 districts. Nearly seven lakh more have fallen victim to inundation since Monday.

Several rivers such as Baghmati, Burhi Gandak, Kamlabalan, Adhwara, Khiroi, Mahananda and Ghaghra are flowing above danger level. The water level of the Ganga has witnessed an increase of 6 cm to 18 cm at various places.

In Maharashtra, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and some other parts of the state for Wednesday.

The alert was issued for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik districts. While the warning for Mumbai is just for Wednesday, that for Thane, Palghar and Nashik is for both Wednesday and Thursday.

Local train services were suspended on some routes in Mumbai and suburbs on Tuesday morning due to water-logging.

A landslide on the Western Express Highway in suburban Kandivali affected vehicular movement from the western suburbs towards south Mumbai.

The Bombay High Court adjourned its virtual hearings as many staff members could not reach the court.

The Maharashtra government announced a holiday for all its offices in Mumbai city and suburbs on Tuesday.

Two fishermen went missing while 11 were rescued after a boat got caught in heavy rains and capsized some 12 kilometres off Gorai beach in north Mumbai.

A 35-year-old woman and her two children were swept away in a swollen nullah in suburban Santacruz.

A person died of electrocution after accidentally touching an electric pole in Thane city following heavy overnight rains.

In Gujarat, the IMD has predicted fairly widespread rainfall, with heavy to very heavy showers in isolated places between Tuesday and Friday.

Several parts of Saurashtra, especially Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Amreli and Rajkot districts, received heavy rainfall during the day.

The weather office asked fishermen to not venture into the Arabian Sea along the south and north Gujarat coasts till August 8.

Gujarat region, Saurashtra-Kutch as well as Daman and Dadra and Nagar Haveli will receive light to moderate rainfall during this period, it said.

In Kerala, heavy rains lashed Idukki, Wayanad and Palakkad districts as weathermen predicted widespread showers in the central and northern parts this week.

The Bhavani river is overflowing and at least 51 people in low-lying areas were shifted to safer places, officials said.

The IMD has also issued orange alerts for Idukki and five northern districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod for this week. Other districts have been issued the yellow alert for the same time period.

In Tamil Nadu, the weather office has predicted heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places in the Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts between August 4 and 8.

A Coimbatore report said a flood alert was sounded to people living on the banks of Bhavani river in Mettupalayam in the district as surplus water was released from Pilloor dam.

In Uttarakhand, officials said besides the death of 18 people in cloudburst incidents, 40 families have become homeless as their houses were washed away by swollen rivers, rivulets or landslides in the past fortnight.

Sixteen districts of Uttar Pradesh are affected by floods, and major rivers such as Sharda, Rapti and Saryu are flowing above the danger mark at some places.

A total of 777 villages have been hit, of which 282 are marooned, he added.

As for the eastern part, there was heavy rainfall in parts of Odisha and the downpour, coupled with gusty winds, is likely to continue in many areas till the weekend.

Light to moderate rainfall occurred at most places in north and south coastal Odisha and many places in the state's interior parts, and heavy to very heavy rain lashed some places in Puri district.

Issuing an "orange warning" for several districts till Wednesday morning, the Met office advised people to remain prepared for heavy to very heavy rainfall.

Fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea.

Moderate to heavy rains lashed south Bengal districts since Monday night. Kolkata experienced 17 mm rainfall till 2.30 pm on Tuesday.

There was rainfall in North and South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram and East Burdwan districts. The western districts of the state, including Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia, also recorded steady showers since Tuesday morning.

The flood situation in Assam continued to improve with the water maintaining a receding trend, though 1.96 lakh people in 15 districts are still affected by the deluge, an official bulletin said.

This year's flood and landslides have claimed 136 lives across the state so far. While 110 people died in flood-related incidents, 26 were killed in landslides.