Pioneer News Service
Ranchi
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Red Alert on Tuesday for heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, lightning, and strong winds across several districts. The weather department informed that the spell of rain is likely to continue in the State for the next few days.
The weather in Jharkhand has taken a turn once again due to the influence of an active monsoon and a low-pressure area formed over the Bay of Bengal. Most parts of the State have been experiencing continuous rainfall since late Monday night.
The State Capital Ranchi received 55.4 mm rainfall on Tuesday. Many districts in the State also received good rainfall. Dhalbhumgarh in East Singhbhum recorded the highest rainfall of 90.8 mm on Monday. Manjari, Musabani, and Jagannathpur received 7 cm each, while Chaibasa Sadar received 6 cm. Koderma received 42 mm of rainfall, Bokaro 41 mm, Jamshedpur 16 mm, Deoghar 7 mm, Ranchi 6 mm, Khunti 1 mm, and Baharagora 16 mm.
The weather department has issued a ‘Red Alert’ for heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the Chatra, Hazaribagh, and Ramgarh districts. These districts are likely to receive rainfall ranging from 7 cm to 20 cm, with some locations potentially recording over 20 cm of rain. Additionally, people have been advised to exercise extra caution due to the risk of lightning and strong winds.
An ‘Orange Alert’ has been issued for heavy rainfall in the Garhwa, Palamu, and Latehar districts. Meanwhile, a ‘Yellow Alert’ will remain in effect for Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga, Gumla, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Koderma, and Giridih. These areas are expected to experience strong winds, thunderstorms, lightning, and rain.
Although the intensity of rainfall may decrease slightly on August 20 and August 21, rain accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and strong winds is expected to persist in several locations. The possibility of rain will remain in some areas of the State on August 22, while another spell of light to moderate rainfall is likely on August 23.
Data recorded from June 1 to August indicates that Jharkhand has still received 18 per cent less rainfall than normal. However, rainfall 35 per cent above normal has been recorded in West Singhbhum, and 1 per cent above normal in Simdega. The department informed that the rainfall expected in the coming days could help alleviate the rainfall deficit to some extent.
Meanwhile, due to continuous rainfall in the Seraikela-Kharsawan district, a section of a hill—which had been cut during road-widening work on NH-33 near the Chandil roundabout—suddenly collapsed on Tuesday. The soil had become completely unstable due to the rain consequently the earth began to shift and in moments a portion of the hill slid down towards the road.
