Lightning kills 6; central India mostly dry, heavy rains down sout

New Delhi, Aug 30 (UNI) Lightning claimed six lives in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Nagaland.

Three middle-aged women were killed and one injured in Uttar Pradesh due to lightning.

One minor boy was killed and another injured in Nagaland's Dimapur district while Official sources said the boys were struck by lightning while waiting for their parents near a paddy field.

Nakul Bahadur(13)died on the spot while Ban Bahadur(15), who sustained severe burns, was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Lightning hit a couple in Jharkhand while they were engaged in farming in their field.

In northern India, rain or thundershowers occurred at a few places in Himachal Pradesh, while they are likely to occur at isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir and Rayalseema.

Shimla and its surrounding areas and tourist places of Wildflower Hall, Naldehra, Kufri and Narkanda in Shimla district also received some rainfall.

The sky remained overcast throughout the day with dense fog engulfing the town and making driving on the roads difficult and forced the drivers to turn on their fog lights.

Hot and humid weather conditions persisted at many places in Punjab and Haryana in the absence of monsoon rain for the second consecuitive day today.

In the national capital, it was a U-turn to warm and humid conditions with the mercury rising to 36.2 degree Celsius, two degrees above normal.

The weekend could, however, see rain or thundershowers in Delhi due to formation of a low pressure area over North West Bay of Bengal around that time.

The neighbouring Uttar Pradesh also received rains at a few places.

Moderate rainfall was recorded in 65 talukas of Gujarat during the past 24 hours. High alert has been issued to 128 reservoirs filled up to 90 to 100 per cent, 18 reservoirs filled up to 80 to 90 per cent and nine reservoirs filled up to 70 to 80 per cent.

More rains are likely to occur at most places in the state and adjoining Rajasthan.

Towards the east, heavy rains are likely to occur at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland.

Bihar, however, was reeling under spate of sweltering heat and sultry weather due to a high humidity of 85 per cent. Heavy rainfall activity is however predicted in the state.

Towards the Deccan, moderate to rather heavy rainfall is likely to occur at most places over Konkan-Goa and Ghat area and at many places over Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada.

In southern India, moderate to heavy rains lashed Chennai and its suburbs. The met department has warned fishermen against venturing into the sea as strong offshore winds from the Southwest direction was likely along and off South Tamil Nadu coast.

A feeble low pressure area likely over West-Central and adjoining North-West Bay of Bengal around September 2 is liekly to cause enhanced rainfall activity in Andhra Pradesh and adjoining Orissa.

Heavy to very heavy rains are likely to occur at most places in Konkan, Goa, coastal Karnataka, and Kerala, while heavy rains are likely to occur at most places in Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

UNI