Monsoon rains continue to batter Indian states

ANKARA

Over 300 people have been killed in landslides and flooding in northern India since mid-June as torrential rains continue to batter Indian states, throwing day-to-day life out of gear.

For the past many days, rains have continued to batter the western Maharashtra state, crippling daily life and impacting the flight and train services as well.

In Mumbai city, the financial capital of the country, authorities on Tuesday closed all government and semi-government offices for a day due to the heavy rainfall.

The Indian weather department has issued a red alert for “extremely heavy rainfall” in Mumbai city and suburbs on Tuesday, according to officials.

The Indian Army on Tuesday said that it is involved in flood relief operations in the affected areas of Maharashtra’s Nanded district and out of the five persons reported missing, “four bodies have been recovered, while one individual is still untraced.”

Monsoon rains have also wreaked havoc, with a number of cloudbursts in several areas of northern India.

In Himachal Pradesh state, due to monsoon rains, the death toll as of Tuesday stood at 268, according to an official statement released late Monday.

The Uttarakhand state had also witnessed devastating mudslides and flash floods, in which several people continue to remain missing.

Heavy monsoon rains usually begin in India in June and end in September.