Flood situation worsens

Amid the ongoing flood situation in Punjab, drones are delivering food to stranded citizens in far-flung areas

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The downpour across north India showed no signs of easing Wednesday as a rain-triggered landslide and structural collapse claimed four lives in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, pummelled regions already on edge and forced the suspension of classes, flights, trains and even cremations.

In the east, a fresh low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal is likely to bring heavy showers in Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand Thursday, while heavy rain continued to batter Odisha for the third consecutive day Wednesday with no respite in sight.

In Himachal Pradesh, rain fury continued as four more bodies were retrieved from the debris of a landslide near Sundernagar in Mandi district, taking the toll to seven.

Two people, including an NDRF jawan, were feared dead after two houses collapsed in Kullu district, while two women died and 15 passengers were injured after rolling boulders fell on a private bus near Kalimitti in the Kumarsein area of Shimla.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu directed the Chamba administration to immediately evacuate stranded Manimahesh Yatra pilgrims and coordinate with the Air Force to deploy about six MI-17 helicopters.

Jammu and Kashmir too faced devastation as torrential rains claimed the lives of a woman and her daughter in a house collapse, while 40 people were trapped in a flooded village in Akhnoor.