Live blog: Monsoon 2025: No respite for India from rain havoc, five killed in Uttarakhand landslides

Large parts of north India continue to reel under the impact of the monsoon this year. Landslides have cut off the hills in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and isolated towns, while swollen rivers have inundated farmlands in Punjab, ruining kharif sowing and eroding topsoil. Thousands have been displaced as homes collapse along unstable slopes and encroached floodplains. Emergency teams from the NDRF, SDRF and Army are conducting rescue operations and also dropping essential supplies

Heavy downpour has disrupted life in Maharashtra’s Latur and Nanded districts, prompting the administration to declare a school holiday on Friday, 29 August, and seek the help of the Army for rescue operations, officials said.

Of the 60 revenue circles in Latur, 29 reported excessive rainfall till Thursday night. As many as 50 roads and bridges were shut after water began to flow over the structures.

With the IMD issuing a yellow alert for August 29, District Collector and Disaster Management Authority chairperson Varsha Thakur-Ghuge announced a holiday for all schools from Class 1 to 12, an official said.

Officials said 130 revenue circles in the Marathwada region, including 68 from Nanded and 35 in Latur, received excess rainfall (above 65 mm in a single day) till Friday morning.

Eleven major irrigation projects in Marathwada have an average water stock of 93.72 per cent, said officials. The same day last year, the storage was just 56.63 per cent, they said.

Read more (https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/torrential-rains-claim-21-lives-across-maharashtra-wreck-farmland)

Rains lashed Delhi and the National Capital Region on Friday 29 August, morning with the India Meteorological Department issuing an orange alert for the day. Commuters in the national capital faced heavy traffic jams on several major stretches due to waterlogging and heavy traffic.

The Delhi Airport and IndiGo airlines issued separate advisories in light of the weather situation in Delhi-NCR, asking passengers to plan travel in advance. Between 8.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m., Delhi's primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded 56.2 mm of rainfall, while Lodhi Road logged 34.8 mm and Aya Nagar 11.8 mm, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

In its latest nowcast, the IMD said that light to moderate rainfall accompanied by a thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds at 30–40 kmph is likely at several places in Delhi and the NCR in the coming hours.

Five people were killed and three remain missing as heavy rains and cloudbursts wreaked havoc in various districts of Uttarakhand early Friday, 29 August, triggering landslides that left about 30-40 families buried under mounds of rubble and damaged houses, officials said.

Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Bageshwar were among the districts hit hard by the natural calamity.

The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) said in Dehradun that excess overnight rainfall damaged nearly half a dozen houses in Pausari Gram Panchayat in Kapkot area of Bageshwar district, killing two people. Three others are missing, it said.

Incessant rain and landslides in Basukedaar area of Rudraprayag district have caused heavy damage in more than half a dozen villages, officials said. There is also information about 30-40 families getting trapped in the debris and flood waters in Taljaman village of Rudraprayag district, the USDMA said.

Read more (https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/uttarakhand-fresh-cloudbursts-batter-chamoli-and-rudraprayag-rescue-underway)

The water level of some of the major rivers of north Odisha receded below the danger level on Friday, 29 August, but around 100 villages in Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts were still under flood water for the fifth consecutive day, an official said. At least 30,000 people in the villages have been affected by the floods, he said.

While 80 villages under Baliapal and Bhograi blocks in Balasore are under four feet water, a similar situation was reported from 14 other villages under Dasrathpur block in Jajpur district, the official said, adding some pockets in Dhamnagar block of Bhadrak district too were under water.

Read more (https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/some-respite-from-flood-in-odisha-100-villages-still-under-water-for-fifth-day)

The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was closed for traffic for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, 29 August, due to multiple landslides triggered by heavy rains in the Udhampur-Ramban belt, leaving over 2,000 vehicles stranded, officials said. The 270-km-long stretch, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, has been blocked between Jakheni and Chenani in Udhampur since Tuesday. "Highway is closed for the fourth day. No vehicular movement shall be allowed from Nagrota in Jammu towards Reasi, Chenani, Patnitop, Doda, Ramban, Banihal and Srinagar," a traffic police official said.

Authorities have advised commuters belonging to Katra and Udhampur towns to keep their photo ID cards to prove their identity so that their movement can be facilitated smoothly.

Cloudbursts have wreaked havoc across Uttarakhand, leaving two people missing and numerous animals feared trapped under debris, officials reported on Friday, 29 August. The situation has deteriorated in Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts with several families left stranded. Authorities launched immediate relief and evacuation efforts, moving residents to safer locations. The Alaknanda river has crossed the danger mark, inundating residential areas, while the Mandakini is rising rapidly, evoking memories of the 2013 floods. Infrastructure damage too has been severe.

Read more (https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/uttarakhand-fresh-cloudbursts-batter-chamoli-and-rudraprayag-rescue-underway)

With incessant rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir over the last few days, water levels in the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers are rising and have inundated large tracts of farmlands and villages in Punjab, which is witnessing its worst floods since 1988. According to officials, more than 6,600 people have been evacuated from several areas.

Villages in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar are the worst-affected.

The Amritsar administration deployed amphibious all-terrain off road-vehicles and boats for evacuating those stranded in the Ramdas area. In Gurdaspur authorities flew a drone to deliver medicines, dry ration, water bottles to affected people in Dera Baba Nanak, said officials.

The Indian Army, Border Security Force, Indian Air Force and National Disaster Response Force have been deployed to help with evacuation and deliver relief supplies.

Read more (https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/punjab-several-districts-under-grip-of-floods-rescue-operations-intensified)