India: Monsoon rains leave several dead
Heavy rains brought destructive floods to northern India, triggering landslides and damaging houses. People are warned not to venture outside, as weather experts warned more rain is expected. At least 15 people died in the heavy monsoon rains that battered northern India , authorities and local media said on Monday. The torrential rains caused landslides and flash floods in various Indian states, leaving dozens stranded. In the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, flash floods over the weekend brought down a bridge and swept away several hutments. Footage from local media shows authorities using helicopters to rescue people who were stuck on roads and bridges because of the rain. This was also a situation in neighbouring Uttarkhand, a tourist hill state in the Himalayas, where landslides disrupted traffic on key highways. In the capital, New Delhi, schools were closed after the city was entirely flooded by the weekend rains. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with officials and ministers and took stock of the situation in the wake of excessive rainfall, news agency ANI reported. "Local administrations and disaster response teams are working to ensure the well-being of those affected, the prime minister's office tweeted. Meanwhile, the Indian Meterological Department (IMD) gave a red alert to Himachal Pradesh and warned the state might experience extremely heavy downpours. A senior weather department official said that many districts in Himachal Pradesh received a month's rainfall in a day during the weekend. Heavy rains are also expected in other northern regions such as Uttarkhand, Punjab and Haryana. Authorities have asked people not to venture out of their homes unless necessary. The weather agency said monsoon rains across the country have already brought about 2% more rainfall than normal. India regularly witnesses severe floods during the monsoon season, which runs between June and September. But experts say that monsoons are becoming more erratic due to climate change, and the intensity of rains has increased, leading to frequent landslides and flash floods. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ara/jcg (Reuters, AP)