NEW DELHI, Jul 27 : Four people were killed in rain-related incidents in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh Saturday as rains lashed parts of northwest and north India including Delhi where evening downpours brought relief from humid conditions but caused waterlogging and traffic snarls.
A landslide in Uttarakhand’s New Tehri killed a mother-daughter duo while two people died as lightning struck them at their village in Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district.
In Maharashtra, the body of a 26-year-old man, who was swept away in floodwaters on July 24 when torrential rains pounded Pune, was recovered on Saturday, taking the toll since Wednesday to six.
Alongside Pune, other parts of Maharashtra — Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Raigad — received heavy rains earlier this week. A building collapse in Navi Mumbai killed three persons and inured two others on Saturday.
According to the India Meteorological Department, heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded at some places with extremely heavy falls at isolated places over Chhattisgarh; Tamil Nadu, West Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, South Interior and Coastal Karnataka, and Odisha.
Heavy rainfall was observed at isolated places over Haryana-Chandigarh, East Rajasthan, East Madhya Pradesh, Kerala & Mahe, Konkan and Goa, Vidarbha and North Interior Karnataka.
In Delhi, the PUSA observatory recorded 26.5 mm rainfall as the city’s maximum temperature settled at 36.3 degrees Celsius, 1.4 notch above the season’s average.
The Delhi Police issued alerts about roads affected due to waterlogging and advised commuters to take alternative routes. The humidity level oscillated between 97 per cent and 72 per cent.
Traffic was affected on the Anuvrat Marg in both carriageways due to waterlogging near Qutub Minar Metro station.
Meanwhile, the emergency operations centre in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla said 56 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state since the onset of monsoon on June 27.
Intermittent rains continued to lash parts of the state with Dhaulakuan in Sirmaur district receiving 123 mm of rain, followed by 74.5 mm in Nahan, 40.2 mm in Kataula, 32 mm in Palampur, 31.2 mm in Poanta Sahib, 27.6 mm in Dharamshala, 26.8 mm in Sundernagar and 25 mm in Baijnath.
In New Tehri of neighbouring Uttarkahnd, a 42-year-old woman and her teenage daughter were buried alive by a landslide in a village following incessant rainfall in the Budhakedar area.
The bodies of Sarita Devi and 15-year-old Ankita were retrieved during a search operation carried out by police and SDRF personnel in Toli village, according to District Magistrate (DM) Mayur Dikshit.
Violent currents of the Dharmganga river washed away three shops in Budhakedar, besides damaging several bridges, breaching approach roads and disrupting power and water supply lines.
People living close to the river have been shifted to safer locations, the DM said.
A cowshed was destroyed in the landslide in Toli, trapping six animals, Ghansali SDM Apoorva Singh said.
Both the Balganga and Dharmganga rivers in the area are in spate following incessant downpour. Roads running along their banks have also been damaged.
Schools in the Ghansali area have been closed as a precautionary measure, Bhilangana’s Block Education Officer Sumer Singh Kaintura said.
Heavy showers for the past two days in different places of Budhakedar and a cloudburst in Toli and Bhigun villages have caused extensive damage, the DM said.
A bridge on the Jhala-Budhakedar road was washed away, the officials said and added that more than 500 metres of the Budhakedar-Jakhana and the Budhakedar-Jhala motor roads were also washed out.
The Sonprayag-Kedarnath road was damaged by a swollen Sone river on Saturday, disrupting the movement of traffic on the route. District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said movement of traffic on the route has come to a halt near the shuttle service bridge in Sonprayag.
The water level in Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers is also rising, he said.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district, two people died and as many others were seriously injured as lightning struck them at their Usargaon village when they were grazing their goats in their field.
Circle Officer (Kalpi) Devendra Pachauri said Balram (60) and Bhole (40) died in the field itself, while Rajendra and Surendra Pal Singh were seriously injured referred to the district hospital, he said.
Large swathes of eastern Rajasthan recorded heavy to very heavy rains, with Chittorgarh witnessing the highest rainfall at 8 cm. Light to moderate rain was also recorded in many places of Rajasthan. (PTI)
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