Toll touches 191 in UP, flood situation in Bihar worsens

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) The toll due to rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh mounted to 191 with 3 more deaths while the flood situation in Bihar worsened further with Nepal releasing 5,90,000 cusecs of water in the Gandak from Valmikinagar Gandak Barrage.

Heavy monsoon in Uttarakhand and Nepal effected swelling of major rivers in the 22 flood-hit districts of UP forcing migration of people to safer places .

The fresh casualties were reported from Moradabad, Sitapur and Jyotiba Phulenagar districts during the last 24 hours.

Prominent rivers, including Ghaghra, Sharda, Rapti, Budhi Rapti, Gandhak and Kuano, are overflowing at many places and the situation has started worsening in Pilibhit, Rampur and Lakhimpur Kheri.

Following the release of water from Naraura Dam, Ganga is about to breach the red mark at several places, while Ramganga has changed its course towards farms.

In Sitapur, the rescue and relief operation is on with life saving boats being pressed into service.

The southwest monsoon has, however, subdued over west UP, Jharkhand, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir.

Four men, conducting preliminary works for a mega power project at Dzongu, North Sikkim, were washed away by flash floods in Tholung Chu river yesterday.

In northern India, rains and thunderstorms are likely to occur at isolated places in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh.

Delhi witnessed another hot and humid day with a temperature of 36.8 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal.

The conditions are likely to persist for the rest of the week with weathermen forecasting subdued rainfall activity over Northwest India for the next two to three days.

Heavy to very heavy rains occurred at isolated places in east Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, east Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Saurashtra and Kutch.

Hot and humid weather conditions prevailed in Chandigarh and its adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana in the absence of rain.

Light to moderate rain lashed some areas in Punjab with Ludhiana receiving 15.4 mm and Shahpur Kandi 7.4 mm rainfall. The holy city of Amritsar was also received 4.0 mm downpour.

Towards the northeast and east, rain or thundershowers have occurred and are likely to occur at most places in Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Sikkim, and at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura.

All major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the red mark and the torents in the catchment areas during the past 24 hours had further made the flood situation worse.

Tripura Governor Dinesh Nandan Sahay today donated Rs 15,000 to the Bihar Chief Minister's Relief Fund for relief operation in the flood-hit areas of the state.

Bihar Secondary Teachers Association(BSTA) also donated Rs one lakh to the Chief Minister's relief fund.

In the Deccan region, monsoon has weakened over Telangana, Rayalseema, Karnataka and Kerala.

Rain or thundershowers have occurred and are likely to occur at a few places in Goa, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, and at isolated places in coastal and north interior Karnataka.

UNI