The early onset of monsoon has caught many in the northern states unawares and this has caused trouble in Haryana, where people got stranded in an overflowing river and a car was dragged off by the current. A woman driver, who parked it on the bank of Ghaggar river, was inside. She has been rescued. Some people trying to foot it across the river in another spot also got stranded. Rescue efforts are on.

The woman had come with her mother to Khadak Mangoli in Panchkula.  The vehicle was parked on the riverbank and got dragged away as the water level suddenly rose.  The woman has been admitted to the Sector 6 Hospital in Panchkula.

Efforts are on to draw the vehicle out of the river with the help of a crane.

Seven people were stranded while trying to cross the river near Sector 27 of Panchkula. The local police and the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) team have reached the spot to evacuate the people.

The sudden current in the normally sluggish river took many by surprise. Delhi and its adjoining areas have been lashed by heavy rains since last night.

This morning, the met office said the southwest monsoon has arrived in “Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and parts of Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu.”

The monsoon “will move forward in the next 2 days and will cover other parts also,” said Dr Mrityunjay Mohapatra, Director General, of the Indian Meteorological Office.

This time, after decades, the monsoon reached Delhi and Mumbai at the same time.  The monsoon had touched the national and financial capitals of the country last on June 21, 1961.