NEW DELHI, Jul 14: Two people were killed and four injured in rainfall-related incidents in northern states of the country, with rains lashing Delhi for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, leading to heavy waterlogging on major roads and low-lying residential areas, and disrupting traffic for long hours.
In the national capital, the maximum temperature settled at 35 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.
Vehicles moved bumper-to-bumper in knee-deep water at Chandni Chowk, Pragati Maidan, Azadpur Chowk, Rajeev Chowk, Subhash Chowk, CH Baktawar Singh Road, Shivaji Park, Basai Road etc.
However, traffic movement remained smooth on the Minto Bridge, which has hit headlines due to heavy waterlogging in the monsoon season over the years.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the Ridge weather station recorded 107.4 mm precipitation between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm.
The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 26.1 mm rainfall. The automatic weather stations at Najafgarh and Pitampura recorded 62.5 mm and 87.5 mm rainfall respectively. Lodhi Road gauged 25 mm precipitation during the period.
Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm moderate, between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm heavy, between 115.6 and 204.4 mm very heavy. Above 204.4 mm is considered extremely heavy rainfall.
The rain reduced the deficiency in Delhi from 65 per cent to 56 per cent. The city has so far received only 65.4 mm rainfall against the normal of 147.2 mm since June 1, when the season starts. It received the first rains of the monsoon season on Tuesday, 16 days after the usual date of June 27.
Delhi minister Imran Hussain said that four persons were injured after the roof of a house collapsed due to rain at Ballimaran area in central part of the city.
“The roof of a house was reported to have collapsed in Ballimaran assembly due to rain. Visited and took stock of the status quo. Four people were injured who were admitted to the hospital, instructed the SDM to pay compensation, had started the work of repairing the roof of the house at night so that people could live comfortably,” Hussain said.
In Uttarakhand, the Pithoragarh administration has roped in a team of mountaineers including Everest climbers Yogesh Garbiyal and Sheetal to help residents of the three high altitude valleys of Darma, Vyas and Chaudas to cross Kulagar rivulet after a temporary bridge over it was washed away recently by heavy rains.
Eight bodies were recovered in Himachal Pradesh’s Boh valley following a landslide triggered by heavy rains which altogether claimed 10 lives in Kangra district, police said on Wednesday.
According to the police, a Punjabi singer died after he fell into a nullah.
Manmeet Singh, a resident of Amritsar, had gone to Kareri lake with his friends. His body was recovered from Salli by a police team on Tuesday night.
Kangra Deputy Commissioner Nipun Jindal said eight people have died and three others are reported missing after a landslide hit Boh valley on Monday.
Jindal said Rescue and search operations underway at Boh valley for three missing persons and in Samirpur, Kangra for a 55-year-old man.
The police said an 11-year-old girl died after she slipped into a drain.
Light to moderate rain and thundershower occurred at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh while isolated pockets in western part of the state received heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours, the Meteorological Department said.
Rainfall has been reported from Deoband (in Saharanpur district), Dhampur (Bijnor), Muzaffarnagar Teh (Muzaffarnagar), Tulsipur (Balrampur), Sadabad (Mahamaya Nagar), Kairana (Shamli), the MeT Department said.
The day temperatures rose appreciably in Bareilly, Jhansi, Agra divisions; fell appreciably in Meerut division and there was no large change in the remaining divisions of the state, the local MeT office said.
It said the day temperatures were appreciably above normal in Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Lucknow divisions; above normal in Varanasi, Ayodhya, Bareilly, Jhansi, Agra divisions and normal in the remaining divisions of the state.
Agra recorded 39.1 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature in the state, while Fatehgarh registered the lowest temperature at 19.4 degrees Celsius.
With rains lashing few parts in the region, temperatures on Wednesday hovered below normal limits in Haryana and Punjab.
In past 36 hours ending 5:30 pm, Karnal in Haryana received a heavy downpour (263 mm), which led to waterlogging in some parts.
Karnal’s maximum temperature dropped by nine notches below normal to settle at 25 degrees.
According to the MeT Department, Ambala, which received light rain, recorded a maximum temperature of 28.2 degrees each, down seven notches, while Hisar, which received rains, registered a high of 34 degrees, five degrees below normal.
The maximum temperature in Rohtak, which received a heavy downpour (37.4 mm), settled at 31.1 degrees, down five notches.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum temperature of 31.2 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal limits.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum of 34.7 degrees, down one degree against normal. Ludhiana recorded a high of 32.4 degrees, down one notch while Patiala’s maximum settled at 28.7 degrees, six below normal. (PTI)
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