Sticky heats returns to north, Assam flood situation grim

The northern states reeled under sticky heat today, a day after an active monsoon swept across the region, even as one more death was reported from Assam, where over four lakh people have been hit floods.

The flood situation in Assam may take a turn for the worse as weathermen predicted "very heavy" rains in the northeast region tomorrow. The state had one of its worst floods in many years in 2016.

Over four lakh people have been hit by the deluge in Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Cachar, Dhemaji, Biswanath, Karimganj, Sonitpur, Hojai, Majuli, Barpeta, Chirang, Nagaon and Nalbari districts.

According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person, identified as Suraj Chetri (22), drowned in the flood waters at Khumtai in Golaghat district.

With this, 18 flood-related deaths, including seven in Guwahati, have occurred in the state.

The worst hit district is Karimganj where over two lakh people have been affected by the swirling waters, followed by Lakhimpur with 80,000 sufferers, the report said.

The Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in central Assam, the most dense habitat of one-horned rhinos in the world, has been inundated by the flood waters of the Brahmaputra river, a senior forest department official said.

Meanwhile, sharp showers pounded parts of Bihar. Patna guaged 28.1 mm of rainfall, Gaya 107.2 mm, Bhagalpur 14.6 mm and Purnea 37.1 mm of precipitation.

Apprehending floods in view of widespread rains, control rooms of the state disaster management department have been put on alert.

It drizzled intermittently in Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan over the last 24 hours. Dry weather conditions prevailed in rest of the state.

As rains eluded other parts, the mercury soared up to 40.3 degrees Celsius in Sri Ganganagar.

Though the maximum temperature was recorded within normal levels in the national capital, high humidity levels troubled the residents.

The city had a high of 35 degrees Celsius and a low of 29 degrees Celsius. The humidity levels oscillated between 78 and 57 per cent.

Residents of Punjab and Haryana also braved a two-pronged attack of high humidity and the heat.

The MeT office has predicted very heavy rains in Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and Bihar tomorrow. A downpour is "very likely" in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and northeast Madhya Pradesh.