Heavy to very heavy rain lashed parts of India on Saturday, with Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh among the worst-hit as landslides blocked roads and disrupted public life.

According to the India Meteorological Department, very heavy rainfall was recorded over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya, while heavy rainfall was recorded over West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, West Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In Uttarakhand, heavy rainfall triggered landslides, blocking 120 roads, including three national highways, while around 100 pilgrims were escorted to safety across a washed-out stretch of the Yamunotri National Highway after the route remained cut off for two days.

According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a massive accumulation of debris completely blocked the highway at Syanachatti in Uttarkashi district on Thursday after incessant rain triggered a landslide that washed away nearly 100 metres of the road.

Rescue personnel secured a rope along an alternative path and carefully guided the stranded travellers across one by one.

-PTI

Heavy rains lashed Palghar on Monday (July 6, 2026) , resulting in the death of one person, while hundreds of families had to be evacuated to safety, officials said. As of Monday (July 6, 2026) morning, the district recorded an average rainfall of 132.1 mm, with cumulative rainfall estimated to have breached the 350 mm to 400 mm mark. Vasai taluka recorded the highest downpour at 203.0 mm, followed by Wada at 180.6 mm, Palghar at 164.6 mm, and Dahanu at 103.1 mm.

“A total of 286 families from hamlets near Zanzroli dam region, including Mandal Pada, Devshet Pada, and Dhondal Pada, were shifted to secure locations. In other flood-prone areas, an additional 491 citizens were relocated, including 195 from Chandrapada–Wakipada in Vasai, 65 from Kaman–Bhendipada–Morigaon, 76 from Arnala, and 56 from Tembhi,” Collector Indu Rani Jakhar said.

The heavy downpour also inflicted damage on infrastructure, officials said.

– PTI

As heavy rains continued to pound Mumbai on Sunday, an 18-year-old motorcyclist and a senior citizen lost their lives in tree-collapse incidents, pushing the death toll from such tragedies in the city to three in less than a week.

According to civic officials, a tree collapsed on a shop near the Hindi BMC School in the Naupada locality of Kurla West around 12.40 p.m.

The victim, Yunus Kundawala, was extricated from the debris and rushed to Fauzia Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, they said.

Mayor Ritu Tawde visited the site and also announced immediate financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh for the family of the deceased.

In a separate incident, an 18-year-old boy died after a tree branch fell on him while he was riding a motorcycle in the Aarey Colony area of Goregaon East.

– PTI

Relentless rains over the past 48 hours crippled life across Thane district in Maharashtra, causing waterlogging, tree falls and a gallery collapse at a building in which two persons were injured, officials said on Sunday (July 5).

The Thane Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) received 93 complaints during the last 24 hours, including 24 instances of tree falls, 22 branch falls, 24 of waterlogging, 8 compound wall collapses, and one landslide incident, they said.

Several low-lying areas in Thane city, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Dombivli, and Navi Mumbai were flooded, leaving numerous residents marooned, they said.

-PTI

As the upper air circulation and trough area persists, heavy rain is expected to occur in more than ten districts around the Western Ghats area of Tamil Nadu from June 21, 2026.

The latest weather bulletin from the Regional Meteorological Centre on Saturday (June 20, 2026) said a significant shift in weather patterns was expected from Sunday (June 21, 2026), paving the way for the onset of the Southwest monsoon.

Accordingly, heavy rain is likely at isolated places over the Nilgiris, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Coimbatore, Theni, Dindigul, and Kanyakumari districts, and the ghat areas of Tirunelveli district.

The data further added that owing to heavy rain, maximum temperatures are also expected to fall by four to five degrees Celsius over several rain-predicted districts in Tamil Nadu. – PTI

Rain and thunderstorm activity brought temperatures down sharply across Delhi on June 12, making it the coolest day of June so far, while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast more thunderstorms, rain and gusty winds through today.

The maximum temperature at Safdarjung, the city’s base station, settled at 34.6 degrees Celsius, 5.3 degrees Celsius below normal and 4.1 degrees Celsius lower than the previous day. The minimum temperature was recorded at 22.8 degrees Celsius, 5.2 degrees Celsius below normal and 7.2 degrees Celsius lower than a day earlier.

-PTI

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With the Indian Meteorological Department signalling that parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Punjab, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu may see less than normal rainfall this month, sowing of paddy and pulses could be further affected. These effects were already exacerbating food inflation, reckoned analysts at brokerage Motilal Oswal. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Despite a wetter July so far lifting the overall rainfall above the long period average (LPA), India’s southern peninsula, the Deccan Plateau and the eastern region continue to face a below-normal monsoon and Kharif sowing remains lower than last year for crops like rice and pulses, spurring increases in their prices. 

By July 15, the overall sown area of Kharif crops was 2% lower compared with the same time in 2022, with maize (-5.6%), rice (-6.1%), pulses (-13.3%) and cotton (-11.6%) being some of the major crops facing shortfalls in sowing this year. The widest decline was recorded in Arhar, with the area sown more than 38% lower than last year, Bank of Baroda’s economics research department observed in a note. 

Worryingly, reservoir levels in western and southern regions of the country were also at lower marks than last year, even as there had been uneven distribution of rainfall this season, with parts of West and North India seeing excessive rainfall, while it was deficient in Bihar, Jharkhand and the North Eastern States.   

With the Indian Meteorological Department signalling that parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Punjab, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu may see less than normal rainfall this month, sowing of paddy and pulses could be further affected. These effects were already exacerbating food inflation, reckoned analysts at brokerage Motilal Oswal. 

“Deficient rainfall, and consequently lower rice and pulses sowing, has pushed prices higher. Rice constitutes around 4.4% and pulses have a weight of 6% in the overall Consumer Price Index,” the analysts noted in a report. “July is a crucial period for sowing Kharif crops as about 32% of monsoon precipitation typically occurs during this month,” they added.