Flood toll rises to 48 in UP; showers decline in north

The death toll from flood-related incidents rose to 48 today in Uttar Pradesh where thousands of persons have been affected by the crisis triggered by overflowing rivers even as monsoon rainfall declined in the north.
Rainfall eluded most of the northern Indian states today with national capital Delhi experiencing a hot and humid day.
Delhiites had to contend with sweaty conditions as the mercury settled three notches above normal at 36.4 degrees Celsius, which was marginally higher than the 36.3 degrees recorded yesterday.
The minimum was recorded at 27 degrees, a notch above the normal for this time of the year. According to the MeT office, humidity in air fluctuated between 49 and 80 per cent.

In UP, 20 more deaths were reported in flood-related incidents with several rivers flowing above the danger mark and posing a threat to more than 1,000 villages in the affected districts.
Nine persons in Bahraich, eight in Shravasti and two in Balrampur died in flood-related cases in the past 24 hours while one casualty was reported in Lakhimpur.

Floods have hit the districts of Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Lakhimpur, Barabanki, Sitapur, Faizabad and Azamgarh in the state.
According to the Sharavasti Additional District Magistrate, eight persons were killed in separate incidents due to floods in the Bhinga and Ikauna tehsils of the district while four persons who were swept away in flood waters are yet to be traced.

In Balrampur and Barabaki, two persons each drowned in separate incidents in swollen rivers while, in Lakhimpur, the dead body of a three-year-old girl was recovered from a village, said Lakhimpur SDM, Narendra Singh.
In Bahraich, officials said that the level of the Saryu river has receded below danger mark although the Ghaghra was still flowing above the red mark.
According to a Central Water Commission report, the Rapti is flowing at the danger mark at Balrampur and above the red mark at Birdghat (Gorakhpur).