Source: indiatoday.in
Fourteen people, including a minor, were killed in rain-related incidents in Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, while the Assam floods claimed one more life on Thursday.
The northern parts of the country received light to heavy rains, with the MeT Department saying rainfall activity has increased over central India, Northern Plains and Western Himalayan region since Wednesday.
Uttar Pradesh received traces of rainfall and state capital Lucknow recorded a high of 31.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday. However, nine people died in rain-related incidents across the state in the past three days. Meerut received 100.6 mm of rainfall, followed by Bareilly, which recorded 50.0 mm of rainfall.
Due to heavy rains recorded in parts of Rajasthan, three people, including a 15-year-old boy, were swept away in water in Shekhawati region. Parts of the state received rainfall from 7 cm to 15 cm. Didwana of Nagaur recorded 15 cm rainfall, followed by 13 cm each in Sadulpur, Bassi, Sikar, 11 cm each in Bhuhana and Phagi, 10 cm each Chirawa, Neem Ka Thana.
Three more deaths due to lightning strikes were reported in Jharkhand, taking the
death toll in the state to 15. On Wednesday, 12 people were killed by lightning in four districts of the state – six in Jamtara and two each in Dumka, Pakur and Ramgarh.
With the death of one more person, the toll in Assam floods reached 75 on Thursday as more than 34 lakh people remain affected by the deluge in 18 districts of the state, officials said.
Due to the release of excess water from the Kuricchu Hydropower reservoirs in Kuricchu River in Bhutan, western Assam districts of Barpeta, Nalbari, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri and South Salmara are facing rise in flood water level. However, water level receded in some other districts of the state on Thursday.
In Bihar, no fresh deaths were reported as flood water entered state’s West Champaran, taking the total number of flood-hit districts in the state to 13. The death toll remained unchanged at 123. The state Disaster Management Department said relief and rehabilitation work was in full swing as 82.12 lakh people are affected by the deluge in 13 districts.
Light to heavy rains lashed most parts of Himachal Pradesh, dropping the maximum temperatures by several notches below normal limits on Thursday, the Meteorological (MeT) Department said.
In Punjab and Haryana, light to moderate rains lashed most places, plummeting the maximum temperatures between two to seven notches below normal in the region.
Narnaul received 54 mm of rainfall, followed by 16 mm in Amritsar, 14 mm in Ludhiana, 12.4 mm in Chandigarh, four mm in Ambala, two mm in Patiala and 0.5 mm in Hisar, it said here.
There was some respite for people from hot and humid weather in Kashmir as
heavy rainfall in lashed most parts of the Valley, even as the downpour affected normal life in Srinagar leading to waterlogging in many city roads.
The Mughal Road and the Doda-Kishtwar highway were closed for traffic due to landslides triggered by heavy rains in Jammu region.
However, in Delhi, vast stretches of the city remained dry, in a departure from the weather department’s forecast of ‘very heavy’ rains in the national capital. On Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department had issued a red alert warning for Delhi.
IMD officials said the weather stations at Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar recorded traces of rainfall. The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, recorded nil precipitation.
Several parts of Odisha were lashed by rains due to a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal, giving much needed relief to the farmers hit by deficit rainfall.
