5 killed in UP rain fury, flood plays havoc in Bihar, NE

New Delhi, July 29 (UNI) Five people were killed in rain-related incidents in the past 24 hours taking the toll to 31 so far in Uttar Pradesh, while flood fury continued in Bihar and Northeast.

In Bihar, Secretary of the disaster management department Manoj Srivastav said Muzaffarpur district administration had sent an SOS message to the state government requesting deployment of army personnel to accelerate the relief and rescue operation in Aurai, Katra, Gaighat, and Minapur blocks-- the worst hit areas in the district. Altogether, 44 people had lost their lives in flood in different parts of the state.

In Darbhanga district of the state the recently constructed Sarwar bridge over Arai river was swept away in the flood water of the overflowing river. Eighteen blocks were inundated and more than five lakh people were affected by the flood water.

At least 80 villages in West Champaran district of the state were inundated today following release of 2,70,000 cusec water from Balmikinagar Gandak Barrage in the swollen Gandak river.

In Uttar Pradesh reports said prominent rivers, including Ghagra, Rapti, Sharda, Kuano and Kathinaiyan were overflowing in Basti, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Ajagarh, Deoria, Faizabad, Pilibhit, Barabanki, Azamgarh, Bahraich and Shravasti districts.

Meanwhile, Mohna recorded the maximum rainfall at 9 cm each, followed by 7 each in Bareilly, Khadda and Deoria.

In Asom road communication was disrupted at several places, with flood waters inundating the national highway for the second day in Kamrup district, besides washing out stretches of metalled road in Darrang, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts. Many areas in lower and western Asom districts were inundated with reports of casualties coming in from some areas. A seven-year-old boy was reported to have been washed away by floods in Hajo circle.

The Brahmaputra was also flowing above the danger level in Guwahati. The headquarter town of Rangiya district was also inundated by water from the Borolia river. In Nalbari district, waters of Buradiya, Morapagladiya and Kanakhunda Jaan rivers had submerged several villages.

Flood waters had also washed away two bridges at Dharmarghat and Mukhirghat, cutting off communication in the Madhupur-Mularkuchi route. The situation in Bilasipara sub-division of Dhubri district was grim, with three deaths already been reported from the district.

Swelling waters of Beki and Brahmaputra rivers wreaked havoc in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) areas and Barpeta district.

The swelling waters of the river Lohit in Arunachal Pradesh fed the rivers in Asom with Dhemaji continued to be the worst-hit, with the district remaining cut off from the rest of the country since July 12.

Dibrugarh district also continued to face the flood fury, with the Brahmaputra flowing above the red mark at Dibrugarh town and the Burhidehing at Naharkotia and Khowang.

In Meghalaya nine people have been killed so far by gushing waters and landslide at Rishipara, while the flood situation in Garo Hills areas remained grim as major rivers and tributaries were in spate following incessant rains .

About 91 villages in the plain belt areas in West Garo Hills district were reeling under water. Jinjiram, Ganol and Simsang rivers, the three major rivers, were in spate.

In the eastern region of the state, there were reports of major landslips in Mawsmai-Shella road, Mawshamok-Mawlong road, Mawsynram-Balat road and Nongnag-Keniong road.

In Arunachal Pradesh the continuous rainfall has posed serious threat to the Tezu helipad, the lifeline of the Lohit district.

The Bailey Bridge at Danglat district had also been washed away as the river water was flowing over the BRTF Road.

In Jammu and Kashmir the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only surface link between the Kashmir valley and the rest of the country was closed for almost one hour early this morning due to landslides triggered by heavy rains last night.

Punjab has received about 92 mm less rain in July than its usual expected range.

The national capital was cool today with the maximum temperature recorded at 34 and the minimum at 25 degrees Celsius. Some parts of Delhi experienced light rains towards the morning.

In West Bengal the state capital recorded maximum temperature at 31.8 and minimum at 25.2 degrees Celsius with 22.2 mm rainfall recorded in the last 24 hours.

Heavy rains have occurred at most places in Gujarat, Konkan and Goa, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, and Karnataka.

Rain or thundershowers have occurred at most places in Marathwada, and at many places in Asom, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Madhya Maharashtra, Rayalseema, Kerala, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Rain or thundershowers have occurred at a few places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chattisgarh, coastal Andhra Pradesh, and at isolated places in Orissa, Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra, Kutch, and Tamil Nadu.

UNI