Sixteen persons were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Nagaland in rain-related incidents on Sunday, reported PTI.

The worst-hit was Jammu and Kashmir, where 11 persons died after heavy rainfall triggered flash floods and landslides in Poonch and Rajouri.

Most of the deaths were reported from Surankote tehsil in Poonch. Some persons remain missing in the district, the news agency quoted unidentified officials as saying.

The rainfall began early on Sunday, after which cloudbursts were reported in the forests of Kashmir.

The Union Territory is expected to receive moderate to widespread rainfall from Sunday to Thursday, the India Meteorological Department said.

In view of this, the authorities have suspended the Amarnath Yatra on the Pahalgam and Baltal routes, reported PTI.

Rainfall in Uttarakhand

In Uttarakhand, two persons died after being struck by lightning in Haridwar district. Additionally, landslides triggered by incessant rains have blocked 84 roads, including two national highways, at several locations in the state.

With most districts receiving continuous rainfall, the authorities issued an orange alert for Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Bageshwar districts. A yellow alert is in place for Chamoli, Almora and Pithoragarh districts.

Flash floods in Nagaland

Three persons died in Nagaland’s Mon district after flash floods washed away homes and blocked roads, PTI quoted officials as saying.

Several areas in the district were inundated and major routes were blocked due to landslides. Homes, roads and public infrastructure were damaged extensively in Mon town.

The toll in rain-related incidents may rise as several persons were reportedly trapped under the debris brought in by flash floods and landslides.

Situation in Assam

Heavy rainfall led to floods in 12 districts of Assam – Biswanath, Cachar, Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Karbi Anglong, Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Tinsukia and Udalguri.

About 580 villages, housing 1.7 lakh persons, have been affected, the Assam government stated. It added that crops in more than 10,300 hectares of land have been submerged in the floods.

As of 8 am on Monday, five rivers were flowing above the danger mark – Brahmaputra at Neamatighat, Buridihing at Khowang, Dikhou at Sivasagar, Disang at Nganglamuraghat and Dhansiri at Numaligarh.

IMD forecast

The weather department has forecast active monsoon conditions in North, East and northeastern states for the next six to seven days. Rainfall activity in west-central and southern Peninsular India will be subdued for the next seven days, according to the IMD.

It said that Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand will receive fairly widespread to widespread rainfall from July 19 to July 25.

Similar conditions will also be seen in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi from July 20 to July 23, in Uttar Pradesh from July 19 to July 24, and in eastern Rajasthan from July 23 to July 25.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at some places, with extremely heavy rainfall expected at isolated locations in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in the next three days.

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura will also likely get widespread to fairly widespread rains from July 19 to July 25.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.