Rain fury in many states leaves 12 dead

New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) Rain fury continued in severalparts of the country with 12 more deaths reported today evenas the flood situation remained grim in Assam though itimproved slightly in Odisha.The

New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) Rain fury continued in several

parts of the country with 12 more deaths reported today even

as the flood situation remained grim in Assam though it

improved slightly in Odisha.

The national capital had a sunny day with the maximum

temperature rising to 37 degrees Celsius, two notches above

the season’s average, but high humidity caused discomfort.

Four rain-related deaths were reported in Assam, three in

Gujarat, two each in Odisha and Rajasthan and one death in

Himachal Pradesh. Two persons are also feared dead in Jammu

and Kashmir.

In Odisha, the flood situation improved slightly in

Rayagada and Kalahandi districts even as the state government

pressed into service a Coast Guard aircraft to assess the

situation in two villages of Niyamgiri hills which were cut

off due to flash flood caused by incessant rains.

Two deaths were today reported in Malkangiri district

while the state government sounded an alert in 12 districts in

view of the likelihood of heavy rainfall due to depression.

Special Relief Commissioner B P Sethi said at least 4,000

indigenous Dongria Kondh people residing in the villages of

Niyamgiri hills were marooned as a bridge over Kalyani river

was washed away due to the floods.

Around 2,000 people of other communities also live on the

other side of the river and all of them are inaccessible, he

said.

Over 56,000 people in 202 villages of the two districts

have been affected in the floods.

Heavy rains lashed Surat, Valsad and Navsari districts in

southern Gujarat while other parts of the state also received

moderate rainfall since yesterday, officials said.

Fourteen people have been killed in rain-related

incidents within a week in the state.

During the day (8 am to 4 pm), Choryasi taluka of Surat

district received maximum rainfall of 201 mm, followed by

Chikhli in Navsari (131 mm), Jalalpore in Navsari (105 mm),

Navsari taluka (103 mm), Palsana (99 mm), Mandvi (96 mm) and

Bardoli (92 mm) (last three places in Surat district).

In Assam, the death toll in the floods climbed to 69 as

four more deaths were reportedy, while nearly nine lakh people

remained affected in 16 districts.

The worst hit district is South Salmara where 1,25,040

people are affected, while in Morigaon district nearly one

lakh people are facing the flood fury, the ASDMA report said.

The water in the Brahmaputra and the Barak rivers, and

their tributaries, have been showing a receding trend at

several places in the state with cessation of rainfall.

But the Brahmputra is still flowing above the danger

level at Dhubri, Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, and the

Barak at Badarpurghat in Karimganj, and Kushiara river at

Karimganj.

In Himachal Pradesh, a five-month old child died in a

landslide as heavy rains wreaked havoc in the state,

disrupting normal life in many parts of it and severing road

links in Kangra district.

The baby was buried alive when a landslide destroyed a

house in Chirgaon area of Rohru in Shimla district today while

Kangra, Dharamshala and Palampur received heavy rainfall

leading to flooding of roads and houses.

All the rivers and their tributaries are in spate while

nullahs are overflowing in several parts of Kangra district.

Dharamshala McLeod Ganj road was blocked due to massive

landslide. Link roads were also affected at most places in

interior areas of Kangra.

Palampur which received 192 mm of rains in the past 24

hours was wettest in the region followed by Jogindernagar 160

mm, Banjar 145 mm, Kheri 140 mm, Nagrotasurian 132 mm,

Dharamshala 125 mm, Baijnath 122, Hamirpur 78 mm and Gaggal

69 mm.

Rains continued to lash Mumbai metropolitan region for

the fourth day.

“The Santacruz station of Mumbai IMD recorded 163 mm

of rainfall, while Colaba registered 107 mm of showers in last

24-hours,” IMD-Mumbai, director, Sunil Kamble told PTI.

“The coastal Konkan region is having more showers in last

four days as well. Compared to it, the rainfall in central

parts of Maharashtra is still on lower side,” said Kamble.

In Bihar, the south west monsoon has weakened in the

state in the past few days.

“A system is developing and people of Bihar may expect

a good rainfall from coming Friday evening or from Saturday,”

Patna Meteorological Centre senior scientist Anand Shankar

said.

The absence of rains has increased the maximum

temperature to around 37 degrees Celsius in major cities of

the state.

State capital Patna, which had witnessed rainfall on

July 14, recorded the highest maximum temperature at 37.4

degrees Celsius.

In Rajasthan, two girls were swept away in an overflowing

nullah filled with rainwater in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district.

Irana (6) and Sapna (8) were crossing the nullah and

slipped into it while they were returning home. The bodies

were fished out a few metres away from the spot.

Meanwhile, various places across the state recorded 1 to

3 cm rainfall in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, two persons, including a

girl, were washed away in flash floods in the Udhampur

district.

Rekha Devi (19), a class 12 student, and Mohammad Sarif

(35) were swept away in Pachond nallah in Latti tehsil when

they were crossing the nallah this morning, police officials

said, adding both are still untraced.

In Telangana, normal life was affected as heavy rains

continued to lash Hyderabad, which received 60.2 mm rainfall,

and other parts of Telangana for the second day today.

Madhira in Khammam district received nine cms of

rainfall, followed by Hayatnagar (7 cms) in Rangareddy

district, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Several rivulets and other water bodies were in spate

at different places in the state.

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.