15 feared killed due to cloudburst in Haryana

Chandigarh, July 20 (UNI) Fifteen people are feared to have been washed away in Markanda river in Haryana following a cloudburst even as monsoon remained active in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh with moderate to heavy rain lashing most areas in the north-west region during the past 24 hours.

The cloudburst occurred near the Kala Amb bridge in Naraingarh sub-division of Ambala district today. The bodies of four people, including a woman and a child, were recovered from the flooded river and the search for more bodies is on.

Four people travelling in a jeep were washed away but were later fished out by the divers. They had suffered minor injures.

A car, a jeep and a number of motorcycles were reported to have been swept away in the turbulent waters. Safety boats have been pressed into service to locate the missing people.

The south-west monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of west Rajasthan and its northern limit passes through Jalore, Jodhpur and Ganganagar, according to the Weather Office here.

Western disturbance lie over Jammu and Kashmir and an upper air cyclonic circulation over south-west Uttar Pradesh is extending upto 4.5 km above sea level.

Another upper air cyclonic circulation lay over central Pakistan and adjoining north-west Rajasthan and south-west Punjab and extends upto 2.1 km above sea level, the weather office added.

Moderate rain lashed several areas in Punjab last night with Shahpur Kandi recording 28.0 mm rain till this morning. Nangal dam measured 7.2 mm, Madhopur 4.0, Ludhiana 3.6 mm and Amritsar 3.0 mm.

Many areas in Haryana also experienced downpour. Kalka recorded 9.0 mm, Morni 21.0, Narnaul 3.7 and Ambala 0.8 rainfall till 0830 hours this morning.

Many areas in Himachal Pradesh experienced moderate to heavy rains, triggering landslides at some places in Kullu and Shimla districts.

Solang Nullah with 102.8 mm rain was the wettest place in the state, followed by Dhundi at 65.2 mm, Nahan at 39.0, Sunernagar at 35.0 and Bhang-Manali 20.2 mm. Una, Solan, Kalpa and Bhuntar also reported moderate rainfall.

The capital town of Shimla and its adjoining areas were also lashed by downpour. Shimla recorded 14.6 mm rainfall till this morning.

Parts of Jammu region and the national capital region of Delhi also experienced monsoon showers. Bhasoli in Jammu region recorded 15.0 mm rain while Safdarjung and Palam in Delhi measured 2.2 mm and 0.5 mm rainfall respectively till 0830 hours.

Chandigarh and its adjoining areas in Punjab and Haryana also expreienced rainfall last night. The city measured 1.2 mm rainfall till 0830 hours, giving some relief to residents from hot and humid weather conditions.

The Met office predicted moderate to heavy rain or thundershowers at many places in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Heavy rain at isolated places in the area is expected during the next 24 hours.

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