Rains affect normal life in UP

Lucknow, Feb 14 (UNI) Rainfall in Uttar Pradesh for the last four days has affected normal life.

Although the Sun god gave some respite to Lucknowites, it continued playing hide-and-seek at other places.

''The sudden change in weather is a result of formation of two systems out of the upper air circulation over South-West UP stretching over Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. Initially, the systems picked up moisture from the Arabian sea, while Bay of Bengal was responsible for the heavy rains on Tuesday,'' the met told UNI today.

Life in UP has been thrown out of gear as the rainfall continued to lash in short spells.

A report from Barabanki said three members of a family were killed after overnight rains collapsed their 'kuccha' house in Zaidpur area late last night.

The continuous rainfall has come as a blessing in disguise for the farmers. According to sources, heavy rainfall and hailstorm have damaged 8.5 lakh hectre of rabi crop of wheat, potato, mustard seeds, peas and masoor in several districts.

A report from Mahoba said unseasonal rains have damaged over 70 per cent crops.

There are only five days left for the Taj Mahotsav and continuous rainfall has posed problems for the administration, a report from Agra said.

In Allahabad and Lucknow, people were posed with problems due to heavy load shedding, while the telecommunication services also remained affected.

The rainfall has played havoc on the schedule of trains. All important trains, including Ganga Gomti Express and Gareeb Rath were running late.

The road traffic in the state also came to standstill.

In the last 24 hrs, light to moderate rainfall occurred in Allahabad, Jhansi, Varanasi, Bahraich, Kanpur and Agra divisions.

Agra turned out to be the wettest place in UP recording 4 mm rainfall.

Mercury witnessed a dip in Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi, Lucknow, Agra and Kanpur.

The city of Taj at 9 degrees Celsius was the coldest place in UP. However, the state capital recorded 10 degrees C, which was one degree above normal.

Meanwhile, weatherman have forecast rains, thundershowers accompanied by hailstorms in the last 24 hrs, while some improvement might be expected only if no new development comes into force.

UNI