Heavy rainfall likely in north India; orange alert issued for Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rainfall activity over several parts of north India in the next four days.

As per the weather department's latest bulletin, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places with extremely heavy falls over Madhya Pradesh, Vidarhha and Chhattisgarh while heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Uttarakhand and heavy rainfall at isolated places over Jammu division, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Odisha.

An orange alert has been issued for Uttarakhand for August 27 and 28 and a yellow alert for the subsequent two days. An orange alert has also been issued for east Uttar Pradesh for August 28 and east Rajasthan for August 29 and August 30.

The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for Jammu Kashmir on August 27, Himachal Pradesh  for August 27 and 28, east Uttar Pradesh  for August 27, 29 and 30, east Rajasthan  for August 27 and 28, Punjab for August 27 and 28, Haryana and Delhi  for August 27 and 29, west Rajasthan  for August 29 and 30.

Meanwhile, due to heavy rains across north India many rivers are flowing close to the danger mark. In the national capital, the Yamuna was flowing close to the the warning mark on Wednesday and is likely to swell further with more water being released from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana.

The IMD on Wednesday had predicted very heavy rainfall for the next 24 hours in some districts of Odisha. The low-pressure area on the Bay of Bengal is moving to north Odisha coast. Heavy rains in the state has raised the water levels in Baitarani river to danger levels.

The Special Relief Commissioner`s office has issued a red alert in several parts of Odisha from tomorrow morning. These areas include Sambalpur, Sonepur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Boudh, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Angul, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal & Mayurbhanj districts. 

The weather department has four colour-coded alerts -- green, yellow, orange and red --- based on weather pattern.