Rains batter Mumbai, Kolkata; 3 dead in Gujarat

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) Torrential rains swept parts ofthe country, claiming three lives and triggering fears offloods in Gujarat even as the situation in deluge-ravagedAssam improved marginally.Heavy

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) Torrential rains swept parts of

the country, claiming three lives and triggering fears of

floods in Gujarat even as the situation in deluge-ravaged

Assam improved marginally.

Heavy showers pounded parts of Maharashtra, West Bengal,

Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, and affected normal life in the

metro cities of Kolkata and Mumbai.

The weatherman has warned of “extremely heavy rains” at a

few p

laces in southern Rajasthan and Gujarat tomorrow.

Heavy to very heavy rains are predicted at some places in

Gangetic West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur,

Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Odisha, Jharkhand, west Madhya

Pradesh and coastal Karnataka.

Downpours in Surendranagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Amreli,

Junagadh, Gir Somnath districts of Gujarat claimed three lives

and led to a flood-like situation in the region. The Chotila

area in Surendranagar district gauged a massive 350 mm of

rains, the state government said.

Heavy rains also pounded Ahmedabad which received over

100 mm of precipitation since last night.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF),

Indian Air Force and other agencies have so far rescued 214

stranded people. Over 6,200 people in the region have been

shifted to safer places.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a meeting with officials

at the state disaster control room in Gandhinagar to take

stock of the situation and the rescue operation.

Ten state highways and 65 roads have been damaged due

to rains. The Rajkot-Ahmedabad national highway is also closed

due to water-logging.

One more death was reported from Morigaon district of

Assam even as the overall flood situation improved in the

state.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives

in this year’s floods has gone up to 76, including eight in

Guwahati.

Nearly 90,000 people are bearing the brunt of the floods

in 11 districts of the state, according to a report by the

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

The worst affected is Golaghat, where over 31,000 people

have been hit by the deluge. 17,000 have been marooned in

Barpeta.

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and nearby areas in the

morning, slowing down the road traffic during rush hours.

Till 8.30 am, the weather station at Colaba recorded 80.2

mm of rainfall while the Santacruz observatory gauged 86.5 mm

of precipitation.

Sharp showers battered southern and western districts of

West Bengal, inundating several rivers, but the authorities

ruled out any immediate flood threat.

Heavy rains were reported from Howrah, Hooghly, West and

East Midnapur, and parts of Birbhum, Purulia, Bankura and

Kolkata, officials said.

WB Irrigation Minister Rajib Banerjee told PTI that two

control rooms have been set up to monitor the situation in the

districts.

The East Midnapur district administration has advised

fishermen not to venture into the sea.

The desert state of Rajasthan also recorded heavy rains.

Barmer received 55.6 mm of rainfall, Sawaimadhopur 51.3

mm, Vanasthali 47.6 mm, Mount Abu 28 mm, Jodhpur 19.8 mm,

Jaipur 14.2 mm and Ajmer 12.1 mm.

The state has recorded 190.89 mm of rainfall from June 1

to July 21 — which is about 10 mm more than the average

precipitation.

According to the water resources department, no district

in the state is under the scanty rainfall category.

Scattered rains in parts of the national capital led to

an increase in humidity levels.

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.