NEW DELHI, Jul 22: Nine more rain-related deaths were reported from Kerala and flood-hit Assam and Bihar on Monday.
The toll in the Assam floods reached 66, with two more deaths being reported from Dhubri and Dhemaji districts, while in Bihar the toll rose to 104
with two deaths in Muzaffarpur district.
In Kerala, five persons lost their lives as heavy rains continued to pound northern districts.
A Red alert (very heavy rains) has been sounded in Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur districts till Tuesday.
Since the monsoon hit Kerala on June 8 after a week’s delay, 20 rain-related deaths have been reported from the southern state, sources told PTI.
A holiday has been declared for all educational institutions, including professional colleges, in Kasaragod, Kannur and Kozhikode till Tuesday.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea.
Incessant rain in the past couple of days has triggered landslides in several districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
The state capital alone has received 119.4 mm of rainfall in the past 36 hours, even as moderate to heavy rain is forecast across the state for the next few days.
The landslides have affected transportation and power supply in various parts of the state, officials said.
Power supply to five districts — East Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, Dibang Valley, Namsai and Lohit — has snapped after a 132-KV transmission tower collapsed, they said.
Despite the downpour, Arunachal Pradesh has recorded an average rain deficit of 33 per cent, the Met office said.
The situation in Assam has remained largely unchanged where 30.55 lakh people in 18 districts are affected in the rains this year, an official report said.
The deluge has claimed lives of 187 animals, including 16 rhinos, in the Kaziranga National Park.
The water level is receding in 12 flood-affected districts of Bihar — Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Araria, Sheohar, Darbhanga, Purnea, Kishanganj, Supaul, East Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Saharsa and Katihar, officials said.
“The number of relief camps and community kitchens has gone down as water level is receding in flood affected districts. People are going back to their houses,” a senior Bihar government official said.
In New Delhi, the minimum temperature went down by three notches below the normal on Monday due to the light to heavy rains, even as humidity levels shot up to 100 per cent.
“The maximum temperature was recorded at 36.4 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal, while the minimum settled at 24.6 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal,” said a Meteorological Department official in Delhi.
Light to moderate rain occurred at some places in Himachal Pradesh on Monday while the meteorological department issued a ‘yellow’ weather warning for heavy showers later in the week. Yellow is the least dangerous of all the weather warnings.
According to the Shimla Met centre, heavy showers will occur in plains, low and middle hills of the state on July 25 and 26.
Parts of Rajasthan received rainfall in the range of 3 cm to 8 cm in the past 24 hours, a Meteorological Department official said.
Mount Abu and its tehsil recorded 8 cm rainfall each, followed by 5 cm in Reodar of Sirohi and 4 cm each in Kotputli of Jaipur, Pratapgarh, Devel, Bhinmal and Raniwada.
The maximum temperatures in Punjab and Haryana hovered close to normal limits on Monday with Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recording a high of 35.9 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said.
Katra and Bhaderwah towns of Jammu and Kashmir received light rains on Monday even as most parts of the state continued to reel under hot and humid weather, the meteorological department said.
Jammu recorded a maximum temperature of 32.1 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees above the season’s average, while the minimum was 2.5 degrees above normal at 27.6 degrees, a Met spokesperson said.
Lucknow witnessed rain in the evening, even as it recorded a high of 37.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal, and a low of 27.2 degrees.
Rainfall also occurred in Kanpur (33.2 mm), Muzaffarnagar (33.0 mm), Sultanpur (11.0 mm), Allahabad (16.0 mm), Hamirpur (4.0 mm) and Meerut (2.0 mm).
Meanwhile, nine people were killed due to lightning strikes in various districts of Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
One person was killed each in Banda and Chitrakoot districts, three died in Hamirpur and four were killed in Jalaun district on Sunday afternoon, the officials said.
Shyamlal Yadav (19) was killed in Banda’s Bhahua village in Baberu area, while Bhagwandeen Kori (45), Ghunnu Pal (70) and Ramashray (46) were killed in Hamirpur, Superintendent of Police Banda Ganesh Saha said.
He said the other deceased were identified as Sushil (8), killed in Chitrakoot and Puranpal (33), Shobharani (50), Shivadhar Singh (40) and Mahadev (60), killed in Jalaun.
The India Meteorological Department predicted revival of the southwest monsoon in Marathwada and Madhya Maharashtra.
Konkan region would receive widespread showers till July 26, while intensity of showers will increase over Marathwada from Tuesday onwards, it said in a statement. (PTI)
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