Heavy rains lash Patna,throw life out of gear

Patna,Jun 13 (UNI) Torrential rains since this morning threw life out of gear in this capital city of Bihar.

Today's was the heaviest downpour for the first time since the arrival of the South-Eastern monsoon on Monday.

MET office sources here said since 9 AM the city recorded 55.2 mm rainfall causing waterlogging in most of the low lying areas in and around Patna besides, uprooting trees and light posts in some areas.

The downpour was accompanied by strong wind.

There was no report of any casualty so far. Low lying areas of Sri Krishnanagar,Kankarbagh,Rajendra Nagar,Lohanipur,Kadamkuan, Machhua Toli,Station Road and Fraser Road had already gone under knee-deep water causing hardship to people.

Rain water entered the ground floor of several houses in these areas forcing the residents to take shelter elsewhere.

A large number of vehicles were stranded at several areas forcing the city municipal authorities to swing into action to drain out accumulated water by pressing into service water pumps.

Largescale digging of roads by a private construction company for widening them and introducing new drainage system in several localities of the city had added to the people's woes as they found it difficult to wade through the waterlogged areas.

Meanwhile,the sudden cloud burst had considerably reduced the overall day temperature in the city and its neighbourhood to a pleasant 23.6 degree Celsius from around 34.7 degree Celsius recorded yesterday.

The MET office has predicted more rain during the day with the sky still remaining overcast.

Reports from several districts also spoke of torrential rains threatending possible breach of several vulnerable points of embankments, particularly in the flood-prone areas of North Bihar.

UNI