Eastern Ladakh to witness heavy rains for 48 to 72 hours: IMD Director Sonam Lotus

"Continuous rain has been occurring in Eastern Ladakh for approximately 48 to 72 hours. Intermittent rain is also happening in Leh," Lotus told ANI.

Further, giving the status of the situation on the ground, Lotus said that the intensity of the rain is expected to remain higher in various regions of the union territory, such as in Central Ladakh, Leh and Kargil, on Wednesday.

"Tonight, the intensity of rain is expected to be higher in Central Ladakh, Leh, and Kargil areas," Lotus added.

However, Lotus said that the situation will gradually improve as the rain in Eastern Ladakh is expected to decrease, and the weather is expected to improve by the fourth day.

"However, the rain in Eastern Ladakh is expected to decrease gradually. Improvement in the weather is expected from the 4th," added Lotus.

In other parts of India, the weather agency has issued red alerts in several states across districts such as Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, northern Punjab, northern Haryana, eastern Rajasthan, southwest Uttar Pradesh, northwest & eastern Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.

As per IMD, districts under red alert include Poonch, Mirpur, Rajouri, Reasi, Jammu, Ramban, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua, Doda, and Kishtwar in Jammu & Kashmir, while in Punjab, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Nawashahr, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Barnala, and Sangrur are under red alert. Additionally, in Himachal Pradesh, districts such as Mandi, Una, Bilaspur, Sirmaur, and Solan were also issued similar warnings.

Meanwhile, following the occurrence of a landslide in Kullu, the search and rescue operations are ongoing at the Akhara Bazaar area. Moreover, 80 km away from Mandi, around 15 houses were evacuated in Jogindernagar due to a landslide that hit the area. Hence, as a precautionary measure, the residents have been safely evacuated from the area. The local administration continues to monitor the situation on the ground. (ANI)