Flood situation in Kashmir improves, heavy rains in Rajasthan

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) The flood situation in Kashmir significantly improved during the past 24 hours even as Rajasthan's Udaipur and Kota divisions witnessed heavy downpour.

After being cut-off from the entire nation for six consecutive days, the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway was reopened today.

A traffic official said the highway, the lifeline of Kashmir valley, has been opened one way and the traffic was allowed to proceed from Jammu to Srinagar this afternoon.

The official said all stranded vehicles were being allowed to move to their respective destinations. The traffic would be allowed from Srinagar to Jammu tomorrow, he added.

Kashmir, badly hit by flood, showed some improvement during the past 24 hours as the water level of river Jhelum was continously declining.

However, the level in river Jhelum was still flowing above danger mark at all places. The water level was 20.55 ft at Sangam, 20.20 ft at Ram Munshi Bagh here and 17.32 ft at Asham in north Kashmir.

Continous rains accompanied by thundershowers lashed Mumbai city and suburbs this morning.

The Suburbs witnessed heavy rains recorded at 9.2 mm while the city recorded only 0.3 mm rains between 0830 hrs and 1130 hours this morning. In the last 24 hrs, the city has recorded 10 mm of rain and suburbs 33.9 mm, the Met department said.

Rajasthan's Udaipur and Kota divisions are witnessing heavy downpour even as Bikaner, Ajmer and Jaipur divisions remained dry.

Monsoon turned weak in the north-west India as only few areas in the region received rain during the past 24 hours.

Moderate rain lashed some areas in Haryana with Karnal recording 7.8 mm and Nelokheri 4.4 mm donwpour till this morning. However, rains eluded Punjab.

Kolkata experienced humid and sultry weather conditions after almost regular rains for the past one week.

The weathermen has predicted a hot and sultry climate tomorrow as the depression has moved in the north westerly drection to the southern part of Rajasthan.

People in most districts of Uttar Pradesh heaved a sigh of relief after water level in prominent rivers started decreasing.

People in Faizabad, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bahraich, Barabanki, Gonda and Lakhimpur Kheri heaved a sigh of relief with the water level of major rivers including Saryu, turbulent Ghagra, Sharda and Rapti decreasing.

The southwest monsoon has been active over west Madhya Pradesh and subdued over Punjab, west Rajasthan, south interior Karnataka and Kerala.

Heavy rains are likely to occur at most places in west Madhya Pradesh and at many places in Gujarat, Konkan and Goa, north madhya Maharashtra.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal and Sikkim, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, south Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, south madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, coastal Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep and at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, north Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and interior Karnataka.

Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Jalgaon, Dhule, Nadurbar and Nasik during next 48 hours.

Moderate to rather heavy rainfall is likely to occur at many places in north Konkan Ghat area and north Madhya Maharashtra. Light to moderate rainfall is also likely to occur at a few places in south Konkan-Goa,south Madhya Maharashtra and at isolated places over Marathwada.

UNI TEAM SI MIR BST1930