Five people killed in pre-monsoon showers

New Delhi, May 28 (UNI) Heavy pre-monsoon showers killed at least five people in Maharashtra and Karnataka, while several houses were damaged in monsoon rains in Kerala.

In Nagpur, three people were killed--about 50 others injured and more than 250 families in four localities rendered homeless, due to pre-monsoon rains, accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms.

Police sources said a 70-year-old Chindbai Hatwar died and 50 others injured when heavy rains damaged over 300 houses in slums of Rautnagar, Bada Tajbagh, Sharda layout and Hanuman Nagar at about 1630 hrs yesterday.

In another incident, two people, who were heading to the city from Katol, were killed after a tree fell on them on the Kalemeshwar-Nagpur road, sources said.

The pre-monsoon rain was so heavy that the accompanying wind blew rooftops of slums here rendering more than 1,500 people homeless. The affected have been taken to zilla parishad school in Raut Nagar under the jurisdiction of Kuhi police station.

Meanwhile in Maharashtra, one person died and three others injured following strong cyclonic winds with heavy rains in the Akola district.

While Madhukar Bhikaji Tayde of Kadvi Chikhli village died when he was trapped in a huge silt of a flooded 'nala', three villagers Kapil Ashok Wankhade (12), Archana Asok Wankhade (15) and Kamlabai Khandare (60) were injured due to house collapse yesterday.

In Karnataka, a 40-year-old man died today when a portion of the wall of his house collapsed at Atiavar area in Mangalore city following heavy rains for the last two days.

Police said the man was killed on the spot.

The Mangalore-Bangalore national highway near Thumbe was blocked for vehicular traffic for more than two hours due to heavy rains.

A lorry skid from the road and fell on the roof of a house near Thumbe. However, no casualty was reported.

As per reports from Kerala, scores of houses were damaged in sea erosion and floods as South West Monsoon hovered vigorously over Kerala during the past 24 hours.

Official sources said while 40 houses were damaged in sea erosion in the coastal belts of Ernakulam and Kozhikode districts, several houses were damaged in other parts of the state.

Three fishing boats were damaged at Chaliyam after the sea turned rough.

Weather office said Karippur Airport and Thrissur received the maximum of 15 cm rainfall during the past 24 hours.

The southwest monsoon has been vigorous in coastal Karnataka.

In other regions, where the southwest monsoon is yet to set in, day temperatures were appreciably to markedly above normal in some parts of Punjab, appreciably above normal in Konkan and Goa and were above normal in Himachal Pradesh and in remaining parts of west Madhya Pradesh.

They were appreciably to markedly below normal in Manipur, Telangana, Rayalaseema and in some parts of Orissa and of Marathwada, appreciably below normal in Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Vidarbha, north interior Karnataka and in some parts of Assam and Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and coastal Andhra Pradesh. They were normal over the rest of the regions.

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