Monsoon active in Himachal Pradesh, elusive elesewhere

New Delhi, July 24 (UNI) Widespread rains lashed almost all mid and lower hills of Himachal Pradesh for the second consecutive day, but remained elusive in Delhi after last week's brief spell of monsoon showers, even though clouds hovering over the skyline offered possibility of rainfall in the coming days.

The cloudy sky, which was interspersed with sunny intervals, led to a slight dip in maximum temperature to 35 degrees Celsius even as a high level of humidity at 77 per cent led to perspiring conditions.

Heavy rains lashed Una and Kangra districts of the state, while moderate to light rains were reported from other parts of the state during the last 24 hrs till 0830 hrs, the met office said.

Moderate rain also lashed several areas in Punjab last night with Madhopur, near Pathankot, recording 35.0 mm rainfall till this morning. Shahpur Kandi measured 19.2 mm, followed by Ranjit Sagar Dam site recording 17.0 mm and Nangal Dam 8.2 mm.

Kolkata has not received rains since the last three days and has left the Kolkatans asking for more. However, the met official said monsoon was very active in the state and added that some coastal parts were likely to receive heavy rains.

Although monsoonal activity reduced in Madhya Pradesh, moderate to heavy rainfall lashed some parts of the state. However, on Saturday, lightning claimed two lives and injured three in Ghagdar village of Umaria district.

While thick monsoon clouds were seen in Uttar Pradesh, rainfall shattered all hopes by playing traunt. Apart from Bihar, a low pressure area is building in Western UP and if it gets humid, it might rain at some places.

Meanwhile, prominent rivers including Ganga, Yamuna, Ken, Gomti, Sharda, Ghagra, Rapti and Gandak were rising.

In the South, rainfall occured at most placs over Coastal Karnataka and at a few places over Telangana and north Interior Karnataka. Isolated rainfall also occurred over Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra Pradesh South interior Karnataka and Kerala. Mainly dry weather prevailed over Rayalseema and Lakshadweep.

The weather office has forecast a generally cloudy sky with possibility of rain and thundershowers in some areas of Delhi during the next 24 hours. Moderate to heavy rain or thundershowers have also been predicted at many places in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh during the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, rain or thundershowers are also likely to occur at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh Punjab, Madhya Maharashtra, Kerala, Andman and Nicobar islands and at a few places in Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Hiamchal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Marathwada, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, interior Karnataka, Lakshadweep and at isolated places in Rayalseema and Tamil Nadu.

UNI TEAM SHB RK1901