Continuous rain disrupts life in eastern Himalayan region

New Delhi, Sep 9 (UNI) Continuous rains for past 48 hours in major parts of eastern Himalayan region threw life out of gear while nine people, stranded in flood waters at Dudhari village near Tarapur in Gujarat, were rescued by a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team today.

Most parts of eastern Himalayan region, including Sikkim, hills of Darjeeling and plains of north Bengal, was affected following landlsides and water-logging triggered by continuous rains for the past 48 hours.

Mudslides near Kurseong forced Northeast Frontier Railway to suspend Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) services. However, there were no reports of any casualty.

Two inter-city passenger trains linking New Jalpaiguri station and Alipurduar had also been suspended after a crack was noticed on a railway bridge at Dimdima between Binaguri and Dalgaon in Jalpaiguri district.

Rains also affected life in most parts of Siliguri town and some places in Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar districts.

Traffic on NH 31A, the main artery of Sikkim was also affected after mudslides blocked the road at Likhuvir.

Nine people, who had been stranded in flood waters while travelling in a 'chakra' (locally improvised motorcyle with a carrier) at Dudhari village near Tarapur in Gujarat, had been rescued by a CRPF team.

All the nine people, belonging to Khada village, had been trapped in flood water for several hours yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Army has been withdrawn from the two districts as rains have receded.

Medical teams have been despatched to the flood-hit villages of Anand and Kheda districts to tackle any possible outbreak of epidemic, said Kheda collector R R Varsani.

Several villages like Nabhoi, Rinjha, Fatehpura, Khada, Mota Kalodra were still under three to four feet water.

Traffic on the Tarapur-Bagodara highway and route connecting Bharuch and Anand via the Gambhira overbridge (as a portion of it had been washed away) still remains affected.

In the interim, the Gujarat government sent a detailed report with a region and sector-wise break up to the Central government, pegging the damages following the floods and rains at Rs 22,171.6 crore.

Moderate rain was reported in several areas in Punjab with Chandigarh lashed by rain during the day, while monsoon remained active in Himachal Pradesh during the past 24 hours, triggering fresh landslides in the state.

However, rains eluded Haryana with no report of rainfall.

In the national Capital, it was another sunny day with sultry weather conditions continuing to prevail for the second consecutive day.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 34.6 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal.

Most parts of Rajasthan remained dry except Jodhpur division, while water level also started receding in most water bodies in the state.

Jaipur remained sunny with an increase in day temperatures. The maximum was recorded as 33.8 degrees Celsius while the minimum was 21.8 degrees Celsius.

The south-west monsoon remained active in Kerala with most places getting good rainfall.

In Kolkata hot and sultry conditions continued to prevail with no trace of rainfall.

UNI Team KD BD1940