Monsoon rains in parts of north, east India as regions in south face drought

Many areas in northern and eastern India were lashed by monsoon rains on Thursday, even though some regions in southern and western parts of the country continued to face a drought-like situation in absence of adequate rainfall.

Light to moderate rainfall hit parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and northeastern states like Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

But, despite the monsoon onset over Maharashtra, 151 tehsils spread across two dozen districts have been affected by drought. On Wednesday, a delegation of Hindi-speaking citizens from Mumbai handed over a cheque of Rs 2.51 lakh to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to support the state government's efforts towards drought mitigation.

Parts of Andhra Pradesh, too, face drought-like situation.

A 48.3-per cent deficit rainfall has pushed the state's agriculture sector into jeopardy, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said Thursday, the first day of the budget session.

He said the state reeled under an acute water scarcity.

According to IMD, there was a 33 per cent deficit in southwest monsoon during June and over 78 per cent of meteorological subdivision recorded deficient rainfall. Monsoon has picked up intensity in some parts since but the distribution of rainfall has been erratic.

On Thursday, the maximum temperature in Delhi settled at 39.2 C, three notches above the season's average. No rainfall was expected on Friday either, said the weatherman here.

However in Himachal Pradesh, the meteorological department issued colour-coded warnings ahead of severe weather that has the potential to cause widespread disruption.

It issued the second highest "Orange" warning for Thursday and Friday, and the least threatening "Yellow" warning for Sunday in the state. Several parts of Punjab and Haryana, including their joint capital CHandigarh, too received rainfall on Thursday.

The Met department warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in sub-Himalayan districts of north Bengal with extremely heavy rainfall in one or two places till Sunday morning.

Landslides triggered by incessant rainfall hit traffic in hill district Darjeeling.

A number of water bodies in the northeast have been flowing above the danger mark.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal reviewed the flood situation, officials said in Guwahati. Three lives have been lost and 2.5 lakh people hit in 11 districts due to it.

In Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills District Deputy Commissioner said a flood-like situation has emerged in various low-lying areas.