In cities and towns across north India, many roads and residential areas were submerged in knee-deep water with the civic system unable to hold on in the face of record rain.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said 16 or 17 people have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh in the past two days.

On Monday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a “red” alert for “extremely heavy rain”.

IMD has issued an alert for heavy rains in 11 districts of Uttarakhand, too. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed all departments concerned to remain alert in view of a possible swelling of rivers in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Rains battered many parts of Punjab and Haryana for the third day on Monday, causing flooding at many places, as authorities scrambled to lead rescue operations to shift people to safer places. Intense rain brought normal life to a standstill in several parts of eastern and central Rajasthan, too, flooding out roads, rail tracks, low-lying residential areas and even hospitals. More showers are expected to lash around a dozen districts on Tuesday as well.