19 killed in Andhra, three killed in Kashmir flash floods

New Delhi, Aug 4: At least 19 people were killed in rain-related incidents and scores feared dead in landslide and flash floods in Andhra Pradesh while three people drowned and property was damaged in flash floods in Jammu and Kargil.

Heavy rains under the influence of a depression, continued to lash coastal Andhra Pradesh, throwing normal life out of gear in the region.

Seven people were killed and two injured in Araku valley in Visakhapatnam district as soil caved in while three people were killed in wall collapse and other rain-related incidents.

Even as rains abated in Saurashtra region, three youths drowned in separate incidents.

A flood alert was sounded along River Krishna in Andhra Pradesh as a whopping 5.03 lakh cusecs were released from Srisailam and 3.38 lakh cusecs from Nagarjunasagar Reservoir today in view of heavy inflows from reservoirs in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The Kashmir valley was cut off from the rest of the country after the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed due to landsides and mudslides between Ramban and Ramsu triggered by heavy rains since this morning.

A day after a burst of heavy rainfall accompanied by high-speed winds brought about certain coolness in the weather, it was back to humid conditions in the national capital today.

The sultry conditions, coupled with bright sunlight, led to a rise in maximum temperature to 35.7 degrees Celsius, from 33.7 degrees yesterday.

Moderate rain lashed many areas of Himachal Pradesh and few areas of Punjab and Haryana since last night.

Hot and humid weather conditions persisted in the plains even as rains lashed some parts of Punjab and Haryana.

In Punjab, Ludhiana reported heavy showers, recording 23.2 mm downpour till 0830 hours. Nangal Dam site recorded 2.2 mm rain while Patiala had trace rainfall.

Parts of Haryana also experienced rainfall. Panchkula recorded 10 mm, Rohtak 4.6 mm and Morni 4.0 mm till this morning.

Moderate to heavy rain lashed many areas of Himachal Pradesh, including lower and mid hills, triggering landslides at certain places. All rivers, including the Sutlej and the Beas, flowing through the state were in spate.

In Uttar Pradesh, all major rivers including Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti, and Sharda were flowing above the red mark. In the last 24 hours, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Agra and Mirzapur divisions witnessed light rainfall.

Six districts of north Bengal were virtually reeling under hot weather conditions due to scanty rainfall, which largely damaged standing jute and paddy crops.Four districts- Cooch Behar, Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur- have been facing nearly draught conditions since last June due to inadequate rainfall, that has already damaged standing jute and Aman paddy. However, Several parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, were lashed by heavy rains due to the deep depression prevailing in Orissa.

After heavy downpours in the past week, Madhya Pradesh witnessed a lull in monsoon activity with light rainfall occurring at several places, including the state capital.

Meteorological department said light to heavy overnight rains lashed various parts of the state.

According to the forecast, heavy rains were likely at most places in Orissa, east Madhya Pradesh, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Rayalaseema, coastal Karnataka and Kerala.

Rains or thundershowers were likely to occur at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal, Sikkim and Uttaranchal.

UNI