Eight more killed in Bihar floods

There was no let-up in flood fury in Bihar with eight fresh deaths reported on Thursday.West Bengal’s Malda and Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district witnessed one death each in flood and rain-related incidents.

With the fresh deaths, the flood toll rose to 37 in Bihar, with Bhojpur district accounting for the maximum 12 deaths.

The floods, caused by several overflowing rivers- the Ganga, Sone, Punpun, Burhi Gandak, Ghaghra, Kosi and others- have affected 31.33 lakh people in 1,934 villages in 12 districts.

The affected districts are: Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Saran, Munger, Vaishali, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Bhagalpur and Katihar.

The Ganga is flowing above the danger mark at seven places in four districts including Patna, Bhagalpur, Munger, and Buxar.

A total of 3.44 lakh people were rescued, an official release said. It said 433 camps were being run, giving shelter to 1.74 lakh people.

In the national capital, light to heavy showers kept the mercury two notches below normal but high humidity troubled people. The maximum temperature was recorded at 35.2 degrees Celsius while the minimum settled at 26.8 degrees Celsius. In eastern state of West Bengal, flood situation remained grim in parts of Malda district where a child was swept away.

Twenty-nine villages were flooded by the swollen Ganga, which was flowing at an extremely dangerous level in the area.

Several gram panchayat areas in the district including Manikchak, Birnagar, Krishnapur were partially under water.

The floodwaters gushed over the two roads disrupting vehicular movement. Boats were being pressed into service in the submerged areas to ferry the stranded people.

In Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, a man was killed after a tree uprooted due to rain fell on him.

Debris from landslides triggered by rain has blocked a number of roads in different districts. The Rishikesh-Gangotri highway is blocked at Dharali, Songarh and Dabriani. The relative humidity levels oscillated between 60% and 90 %.

In Punjab and Haryana, the maximum temperature hovered close to levels normal for this time of the year at most places. Chandigarh’s maximum settled at 35.2 degrees Celsius, two notches above the over normal level.

Low pressure to cause heavy rain in TN

Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are expected to receive heavy rain as a low pressure area is likely to be developed over the Bay of Bengal on Friday, DHNS reports from Chennai.

During the past two weeks, except for a few districts, dry weather prevailed across Tamil Nadu and its neighbouring Puducherry as the southwest monsoon did not cause much impact. However, for the first time, a well-marked low pressure is expected to be formed over the west central bay and its neighbourhood under the influence of the upper air cyclonic circulation. “Heavy rain is expected to lash the state in the next 24 hours,” a senior Met official told DH on Thursday.

According to him, as the sea would be rough, fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been asked to take precautionary measures before venturing into deep sea. The officer also pointed out that the southwest monsoon will hit from the extreme northwest likely by the end of this month and will progressively recede southwards.