Uttar Pradesh

• 27 Sep 2024

Heavy Rain Alert in Uttar Pradesh

Why in News?

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an important weather warning for Uttar Pradesh, placing various districts under Yellow and Orange alerts.

• This alert is primarily due to a low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal, which has intensified into a cyclonic circulation currently affecting Uttar Pradesh.

Key Points

• Districts Under Heavy Rain Alert: A total of 24 districts are under a heavy rain alert. These include: Banda, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur,
  • In these districts, the IMD has issued a yellow alert, indicating the possibility of heavy rainfall.
• Districts Under Very Heavy Rain Alert: Eight districts are under an orange alert for very heavy rainfall. These districts are Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Gonda, Balrampur, Shravasti.
  • Residents in these areas should be prepared for extremely heavy rainfall and potential disruptions.

Colour- Coded Weather Warning

• It is issued by the IMD whose objective is to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather which has the potential to cause damage, widespread disruption or danger to life.
• The IMD uses 4 color codes are:
  • Green (All is well): No advisory is issued.
  • Yellow (Be Aware): Yellow indicates severely bad weather spanning across several days. It also suggests that the weather could change for the worse, causing disruption in day-to-day activities.
  • Orange/Amber (Be prepared): The orange alert is issued as a warning of extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road and rail closures, and interruption of power supply.
  • Red (Take Action): When the extremely bad weather conditions are certainly going to disrupt travel and power and have significant risk to life, the red alert is issued.
• These alerts are universal in nature and are also issued during floods, depending on the amount of water rising above land/in a river as a result of torrential rainfall.
  • For instance, when the water in a river is ‘above normal’ level, or between the ‘warning’ and ‘danger’ levels, a yellow alert is issued.