Rain spells havoc in hill states, west coast

NEW DELHI: Mudslides, landslides, damage to highways and bridges in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand; floating cars and cattle being washed away in Gujarat's Junagadh; a massive landslide that washed away an entire village in Maharashtra's Raigad across India, the monsoon has been unusually active in July, with no sign of letting up

- Jayashree Nandi

Meteorologists said that the development of several weather systems one after the other with hardly any gap, and their interaction with each other has led to severe rainfall in certain parts of the country, particularly India's north including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the west coast, from Konkan to Gujarat.

The numbers speak for themselves.

There is 5% excess rain over the country to date (from June 1) with 40% excess over northwest India; 23% deficiency over east and northeast India; 10% deficiency over peninsular India and 15% excess over central India according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Compare that with the situation up to June 30, when the deficiency was 10%.

Two low-pressure areas that developed last week have already brought widespread rain to central India and parts of west India.

Now, another low-pressure area is expected to develop over west central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal which will intensify further and travel northwestwards. Three to four western disturbances have also impacted the Western Himalayan region bringing unusually high rainfall to northern states.