Eight bodies recovered in Raj, monsoon weakens in AP

New Delhi, Aug 24 (UNI) The Army recovered eight bodies today under 'Operation Saara Jahan' from flood-hit Barmer and Jaisalmer districts in Rajasthan while 2,850 people have been evacuated in Barmer district and shifted to safer places over the past three days.

The district administration has requested the services of divers from Jodhpur to retrieve bodies in Maluva village in Barmer, which is still under water. The Army is using boats and helicopters to ferry people to safer places.

Relief Minister Kirorilal Meena today conducted an aerial survey of Barmer.

A wet spell has restarted over Madhya Pradesh, after a week-long break, with several locations in the state's northern and eastern areas receiving downpours since yesterday.

A Regional Meteorological Centre spokesman said a low-pressure area has formed near Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Jabalpur, Rewa and Sagar divisions are expected to receive heavy rain over the next few days.

The South-west monsoon has been active in east Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh but subdued over western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and east Rajasthan.

Certain areas in Punjab experienced rain overnight. Ludhiana recorded 9.2 mm and Amritsar one mm.

Many areas in Himachal Pradesh, including Sundernagar, Bhuntar, Kassol, Guler, Bharthin, Gamroor, Nagrota Surian and Bhang-Manali also experienced moderate rainfall. Sujanpur Tira recorded 31.2 mm rain, Solan Nullah 26.0, Dhundi 19.0 and Naudan 14.0 mm rainfall.

Tourist resorts of Mashobra, Kufri, Naldehra and Narkanda in Shimla district and the key tourist place of Manali in Kullu district also had rainfall last night. The capital town of Shimla recorded 3.6 mm rain till this morning.

Kolkata too experienced a moderate climate with drizzles in the morning as the low pressure moved westward.

However, rainfall activity in Andhra Pradesh lessened as yesterday's well marked low pressure further moved away from the state.

The southwest monsoon has been active over east Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh but has subdued over west Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra, Kutch, Vidarbha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, interior Karnataka and Kerala.

Rain or thundershowers have occurred at most places in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, east Madhya Pradesh and at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Asom, Meghalaya, Orissa, Jharkahdn, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Konkan and Goa.

UNI TEAM AK RAI1850