Jammu and Kashmir: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red alerts for several districts across Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, northern Punjab, northern Haryana, eastern Rajasthan, southwest Uttar Pradesh, northwest and eastern Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, as heavy rain batters large parts of the country.

Which areas are under red alert?

According to IMD, the red alert in Jammu and Kashmir covers Poonch, Mirpur, Rajouri, Reasi, Jammu, Ramban, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua, Doda, and Kishtwar.

In Punjab, the districts affected are Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Nawashahr, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Barnala, and Sangrur. Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, Una, Bilaspur, Sirmaur, and Solan are under similar warnings, while Haryana’s Yamuna Nagar, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Panchkula, and SAS Nagar are also included.

The nowcast further indicates that moderate to intense rainfall is likely in these regions over the next three hours, raising the threat of flash floods, landslides, and waterlogging.

Between 8:30 am on Tuesday and 5:30 am on Wednesday, several locations in Jammu & Kashmir reported very heavy rain. Reasi topped the list with 203 mm, followed by Katra at 193 mm, Batote at 157.3 mm, Doda at 114 mm, and Baderwah at 96.2 mm. Jammu city recorded 81 mm during the same period.

Other stations also saw significant rainfall: Banihal received 95 mm, Ramban 82 mm, Kokernag 68.2 mm, and Pahalgam 55 mm. In addition, Srinagar reported 32 mm, Samba 48 mm, Kishtwar 50 mm, Rajouri 57.4 mm, and Qazigund 68 mm.

Fresh figures available up to 6:45 am on 3 September showed Reasi receiving extremely heavy rainfall of 230.5 mm.

What about other states?

Apart from Jammu and Kashmir, rainfall activity was also widespread across the country. Between 8:30 pm on Tuesday and 5:30 am on Wednesday, heavy rain occurred in Chhattisgarh, while moderate spells were reported in Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, coastal Odisha, coastal Maharashtra, coastal Karnataka, and the Andaman Islands.

In view of the extreme weather, the Directorate of School Education Jammu announced on Tuesday that all government and private schools in Jammu Division will remain closed on 3 September to ensure student safety.

ANI inputs