By Adnan Abidi
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Parts of Delhi and Indian Kashmir were flooded on Thursday after two rivers breached the danger mark following heavy rain in several northern areas, but weather officials forecast some respite from downpours.
A fierce monsoon season has brought immense destruction in the region this year, killing at least 130 people in August.
Torrential rain in the hilly areas of the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Himlayan enclave of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh has swollen many rivers, which have crossed danger levels.
Residential areas were flooded in the key city of Srinagar after a breach of the Jhelum river embankment, and authorities urged people to evacuate homes.
“The Jhelum is climbing, but at a much slower rate than was feared,” Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said in a post on X. “The administration is not going to lower its guard. We continue to monitor the situation very closely.”
Rescuers searched for any people trapped under debris after the rain triggered a landslide at the Ratle hydroelectric power project on the Chenab river in Drabshalla, officials said.
Indian weather officials have forecast showers to ease off on Thursday, with moderate rain expected in Jammu and Kashmir and the state of Uttarkhand.
In Delhi, the capital, the Yamuna river passed the danger mark on Tuesday, in a flow the Central Water Commission described as a ‘severe’ situation.
Muddy water poured into many homes in low-lying areas, from which thousands had already been evacuated to safer places as a precaution.
Authorities shut the historic Loha Pul, or Iron Bridge, spanning the Yamuna in the older part of the city.
People waded through floodwaters in areas surrounding the historic Red Fort, many carrying an idol of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu god who vanquishes obstacles, for immersion in the river waters in an annual ritual.
Crops across tens of thousands of hectares have been destroyed by the rains in the breadbasket state of Punjab where 37 have died since August began.
The deluge spurred authorities to release water pent up in dams, further flooding areas in both India and neighbouring Pakistan.
(Reporting by Adnan Abidi and Tanvi Mehta in New Delhi, Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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