UP flood toll touches 89; rain eludes north

Flood situation remained grave in Uttar Pradesh where the toll rose to 89 today as other parts of north India reeled under sultry weather in the absence of rains.
Seven more deaths were reported from different areas of Uttar Pradesh since yesterday, taking the toll to 89. Six persons were killed in flood affected areas of Balrampur district, while a 26-year-old youth drowned in Gonda district in the past 24 hours, official sources said.
Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Khiri, Sitapur, Faizabad, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Azamgarh, Muzaffarnagar and Siddharth Nagar were among the most affected districts in the flood.

According to report from Balrampur, several mud houses collapsed in Jonaar, Mirzapur, Nandnagar, Hridaynagar, Bhatehia and Belha villages. Around 1.5 lakh people in 150 villages are affected in the district.
A report from Azamgarh said that breaking a 16-year-old record, the Ghaghra river was flowing 1.7 metres above the danger mark.
According to a report from Barabanki, around 89,000 people in 125 villages of Ramnagar, Sirauli Gauspur and Ramsnehighat tehsils were affected.

In the national capital, people continued to reel under record high temperatures for August with the maximum settling at 38 degrees Celsius. The humidity was recorded between 69 and 35 per cent.

Today's maximum was four notches above normal and marginally less than yesterday's 38.4 degrees, which was the hottest day in August since 2002. The minimum was recorded at 28 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.
Maximum temperatures hovered above normal levels in Punjab and Haryana also. The Union Territory of Chandigarh had a high of 35.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.
In Punjab, maximum temperatures in Amritsar and Ludhiana settled at 36.7 and 35.7 degrees, two notches above normal, while in Patiala it was 37.2. In Haryana, Hisar's maximum was 40 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal.
Mercury rose sharply at many places in Rajasthan's western region with Churu recording the maximum temperature of 39.5 degrees Celsius, about 3 notches above normal.

There was no rainfall in the state since last night and dry weather conditions prevailed every where pushing the mercury up.