Rain continues to batter Maha, swollen Godavari floods Andhra districts

Rains continued to disrupt normal life in several parts of Maharashtra on Sunday, while Andhra Pradesh grappled with a swollen Godavari that affected over 74,000 people, though the flood situation improved slightly in Assam.

Heavy rains in Mumbai and adjoining regions crippled normal life for the second consecutive day, throwing train services off the tracks, disrupting air traffic and causing power outages in neighbouring Thane and Palghar districts.

At least four persons died in rain-related incidents in Mumbai, Pune and Palghar districts, while a man is missing after he fell into a swollen nullah in Dharavi in central Mumbai in afternoon.

The day of wet spell witnessed at least two rescue operations by the Indian Air Force (IAF) with Mi 17 choppers in the state.

Rains also lashed Nashik, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts, where water-logging was witnessed in various localities as rivers were in full spate.

In Gujarat, heavy rains continued to lash Vadodara though the situation had eased considerably as the water level in Vishwamitri river was receding, said district authorities.

Vadodara District Collector Shalini Agarwal said a post-flood cleanliness drive had begun, under which officials of the civic health department were working to prevent outbreak of water-borne diseases.

The continuing heavy flood in Godavari river affected over 74,000 people in parts of East and West Godavari districts in Andhra Pradesh with nearly 18,000 of them being shifted to relief camps, officials said.

A second warning signal was issued at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram as water flow in the river, which has been in spate since last week following heavy monsoon rains, crossed the 13 lakh cusecs mark on Sunday morning and almost the entire quantum was being let out into the Bay of Bengal.

However, there were no casualties reported and teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force reached out to the affected areas with essential supplies and food.

Flood in Assam claimed one more life on Sunday, pushing the toll to 90, even as the overall situation improved considerably.

Nearly 88,000 people remain affected by the deluge in 10 of the 33 districts of the state, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

Till Saturday, around 1.22 lakh people were affected in the 10 flood-battered districts.

The fresh casualty was reported from Gogamukh in Dhemaji district, the ASDMA said.

Barpeta is the worst-hit district with 46,000 people being affected, it said.

On the other side, hundreds of villages in north Karnataka were inundated following release of over 2 lakh cusecs of water from Koyna dam in neighbouring Maharashtra and torrential rainfall in the region prompting the administration to rope in the Army for relief works.

So far, no loss of life has been reported, official sources said adding the administration was on alert.

At least, five districts -- Belagavi, Bagalkot, Raichur, Vijayapuram and Yadgir -- have been badly affected by the swollen Krishna river, Malaprabha, Markandeya river and a few other rivulets.

In Delhi, the sky remained overcast throughout the day with the minimum temperature settling at 27.2 degrees Celsius, normal for the season.

The national capital recorded a high of 35.8 degrees Celsius, two degree above the normal, while the skies remained generally cloudy during the day, according to the Meteorological (MeT) department.

It said the city received 0.6 mm rainfall.

Parts of Rajasthan recorded light to moderate rains.

During the last two days, Banswara's Bagidora recorded 13 cm rainfall, followed by Jhalawar's Dug (10 cm) and Bakani (8 cm), Bharatpur's Veir and Jhalawar's Asnawar (7 cm each), Bhilwara's Jagpura, Banswara's Ghatol and Jaipur's Chomu (6 cm each).

Hot and humid conditions persisted in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir with day temperature in most parts of the state settling several degrees above season's average.