Flood toll in UP reaches 228; heavy rains in Rajasthan

New Delhi, Aug 22 (UNI) Flood toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 228, as seven more died in monsoon-related incidents here in the past 24 hours.

Almost 19 districts continued to be flood affected in the state with the swelling of prominent rivers viz Ganga, Ram Ganga, Ghaghra, Sharda, Kuano and Rapti.

Thousands of villages were still inundated in the flood-hit Basti, Siddharthnagar, Gonda, Shravasti, Faizabad, Pilibhit, Bareilly, Badaun and Jyotiba Phulenagar districts. According to Central Water Commission, the turbulent Ghaghra was overflowing the danger mark by 30 cm, 58 cm and 95 cm respectively at Elignbridge, Ayodhya and Turtipar.

Heavy downpour in Rajasthan were reported from several parts, especially in southern districts of Banswara and Chittorgarh over the past two days, leading to almost a flood like situation there.

Incessant rains in Jaipur led to water logging in the streets, with vehicles having to put on their headlights in the afternoon. The weather department warned of heavy rains in Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota and Udaipur divisions in the next 24 hours.

In Mylapore in Tamil Nadu, a small portion of the temple tower of the famous and ancient Sri Kapaleeswarar temple was damaged following lightning last evening. Official sources said the ''yazhi image'' (lion symbol) on the left side of the Rajagopuram (temple tower) was damaged when lightning struck about 1800 hours last evening which was followed by heavy rains.

The continuous rains in hilly areas of Uttarakhand had started affecting Pilibhit and Lakimpur Kheri by Sharda. While, Behgul was posing flood-threat to Shahjahanpur.

Sultry weather conditions prevailed at most places in Punjab and Haryana, whereas parts of Himachal Pradesh experienced light to moderate rain since last night, dipping the temperatures in the state.

Scorching sunshine turns the weather of Bihar's capital sultry again as the officials forecast that the sky would generally remain cloudy with the possibility of thunder showers during the next 24 hours in different parts of the state.

The southwest monsoon has been active in east Rajasthan and Gujarat and subdued over Arunachal Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and west Rajasthan. Heavy rains are likely to occur at many places in south Rajasthan, Gujarat, Konkan and Goa, coastal Karnataka, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal and Sikkim, Orissa, Jharkhand, north Rajasthan, east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh State, Tamil Nadu and interior Karnataka and at isolated places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada.

Heavy rains have occurred at most places in Gujarat Region and at many places in Kerala and at isolated places in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Very light rains have occurred at isolated places in Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, west Uttar Pradesh and Marathwada.

Rain or thundershowers have occurred at most places in east Rajasthan, east Madhya Pradesh, coastal and south interior Karnataka and at many places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Vidarbha, Saurashtra and Kutch, Konkan and Goa, Rayalaseema, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and at a few places in Assam and Meghalaya, west Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and at isolated places in Orissa, east Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, west Rajasthan, Madhya Maharashtra and north interior Karnataka.

However, an overcast sky and cool Easterly winds blowing across the air in the Capital city brought some relief to people of the city from the hot and humid weather of the last few days.

UNI