NEW DELHI—Heavy monsoon rains triggered flooding and landslides across several parts of India on Friday, disrupting transport, inundating low-lying areas and prompting authorities to issue fresh warnings as an active weather system intensified over eastern and northern regions.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said a well-marked low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal was expected to move inland across northern Odisha and West Bengal, bringing enhanced rainfall over eastern and northeastern India, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the western Himalayan region during the coming days. The agency warned of isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall, with extremely heavy rain possible in parts of Odisha.
State authorities reported localized flooding in urban and rural areas after persistent downpours, while landslides affected vulnerable hilly districts, particularly in the Himalayan region. Emergency teams were deployed to clear debris from roads, monitor river levels and assist affected communities where necessary, according to state disaster management officials. Authorities continued to assess damage, and no nationwide casualty total had been officially confirmed.
The IMD said very heavy rainfall had already been recorded in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bihar during the previous 24 hours, while heavy rainfall occurred in areas of East Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Konkan, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Nagaland and Tripura. Thunderstorms accompanied by strong winds were also reported in several states.
The weather agency warned that continued rainfall could lead to localized flooding, waterlogging, reduced visibility, traffic disruptions, landslides and mudslides in vulnerable terrain. It also cautioned that heavy precipitation could affect standing crops and raise the risk of river flooding in some catchments, urging residents to follow advisories issued by local authorities.
Several states remained under heavy rainfall alerts on Friday, including Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and parts of northeastern India, while forecasts also indicated increasing rainfall over the western Himalayan region in the coming days.
India experiences widespread flooding and landslides during the June-to-September southwest monsoon, particularly in mountainous and low-lying regions. Weather officials said they would continue monitoring the evolving low-pressure system and issue updated forecasts and warnings as conditions developed.
