20 die in rain-related incidents

New Delhi, Feb 11 (UNI) At least 20 people were killed in rain related incidents in various parts of the country in the last 24 hours even as heavy rains and strong winds lashed the region and snowfall took place in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Nine people were killed and ten injured in rain-triggered incidents in Uttar Pradesh.

''The chill in air is the outcome of fresh western disturbances and snowfall in Uttarakhand,'' the met department in Lucknow said today.

A report from Varanasi said two people were killed and four others grievously injured, when overnight rains caused a house collapse in Lohta area early this morning.

Two members of a family were killed and as many injured after a house caved-in due to rainfall in Chitrakoot district. According to a report from Bulandshahr, two women died and another was injured in rainfall-related incidents yesterday evening.

Two children lost their lives and as many injured after lightning struck them in Agra last night. Later, a youth was killed and another injured in a rainfall triggered incident in Hardoi.

In the last 24 hours, rainfall occurred at Allahabad, Jhansi, Varanasi, Agra, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, Bareilly and Lucknow divisions.

A report from the city of tents, Prayag, said all the programmes of the 3rd world VHP conference were suspended following heavy rainfall.

In Haryana, an official report from Fatehabad said four children died when lightning struck their house.

The Capital Tourist Resort of Shimla recorded one foot of snow.

The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh also reported heavy snowfall, while in the plains of Punjab and Haryana, moderate to heavy rains continued for the second successive day.

Winds at the speed of 45 km an hour swept across the North West plains, affecting power supply at several places.

Night temperatures at several places in the North West region plummeted, with Shimla registering 0.6 degrees Celsius. The tribal districts of Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur and Pangi valley and Bharmour area in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh had another spell of heavy snowfall plummeting the temperature in the tribal belt. In Chandigarh, the minimum temperature was 10 degrees C.

Four people died in rain-related incidents in Madhya Pradesh.

Khajuraho turned out be the wettest place in the region recording 56 mm rainfall overnight.

The rainfall has brought down temperature, but minimum temperature was still two-three degrees above normal. Bhopal recorded a temperature of of 15.4 degrees, three notches above normal.

In the past 24 hours, Satna recorded 26.3 mm rainfall, Jabalpur 19 mm, Guna 13, Sheopurkala 15 mm, and Bhopal 13 mm respectively.

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