Heavy rain pounds several parts of Indian states

Rain pounded several parts of the country throwing life out of gear as the southwest monsoon advanced to several states.

Torrential rain led to a deluge-like situation in parts of Gujarat and triggered fresh landslides in Himachal Pradesh, even as the flood situation in Assam remained grim with more rain likely to hit the northeast region yesterday.

Sharp showers pounded Tankara taluka of Gurjarat's Morbi district in a short span of time. The rainwater breached several check dams, leading to heavy waterlogging on Saturday.

Tankara gauged a massive 280 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours. Teams of the disaster management department with the help of National Disaster Response Force personnel rescued around 14 people stranded in floodwaters in the district.

Suigam taluka in Banaskantha, Kodinar taluka in Gir Somnath and Kalyanpur in Devbhoomi Dwarka received 110 mm of rainfall overnight, which led to traffic snarls.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the state's disaster management authority has been put on alert to tackle any emergency situation.

The low-lying areas in Ahmedabad are waterlogged. The city recorded 31 mm of rainfall.

A 17-year-old youth was killed after a cloudburst struck a village in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Friday.

Meanwhile, the 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road connecting the Valley to the rest of India, was reopened for vehicular traffic after a day-long closure due to rainfall-induced landslides in Ramban and Udhampur districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Widespread rain led to fresh landslides in Himachal Pradesh. The Manali-Leh road was blocked near Koksar.

In Assam, floods have affected more than 2.68 lakh people in Barpeta, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Karimganj, Cachar, Dhemaji, Karbi Anglong and Biswanath districts.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority's report said 453 villages have been inundated and over 5,272 hectares of crop area damaged by the swirling flood waters.