Twelve people were killed today in torrential rains and landslides in Uttarakhand, while two persons were swept away by rain-fed muddy waters in Arunachal Pradesh even as Rajasthan reeled under heat wave conditions with Sri Ganganagar simmering at 45 degrees Celsius.
Humid conditions prevailed in northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, and in eastern states of Odisha and West Bengal.
The weatherman has forecast very heavy rains in western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, and Konkan and Goa.
Heavy rains lashed Delhi in the evening, giving relief to people reeling under high humidity, which shot up to 98 per cent. The city recorded the maximum and minimum temperatures at 36.6 and 27.2 degrees, respectively and got 13 mm of rainfall.
The other three metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai recorded the maximum temperature at 33.1, 33.8 and 29.7 degrees Celsius.
In Uttarakhand, landslides due heavy downpour buried villages under sludge. While eight persons were killed in cloudburst in Pithoragarh district, four lives were claimed by heavy rains in Chamoli district.
Two persons were swept away by the muddy waters and debris rushing down the slopes into Siron village in Chamoli.
A person was killed in Ghat block and another in Sithel village in similar circumstances, SDM Chamoli S K Barnwal said, adding eight persons trapped in the debris have been rescued in the district so far.
The cloudburst in Singhali area of Pithorgarh district brought over 100 mm rains in two hours in a region of 50 sq km, flattening homes in over seven villages.
"We have recovered five bodiesfrom Singhali area while threebodies have been recovered from Thal village. The searchfor others is on by rescue partiesconsisting of armyand paramilitary personnel," Pithoragarh District Magistrate H C Semwal said.
Twenty-five people, missing fromover seven villages of Singhali area in Didiihat sub-division of Pithoragarh district,are being tracedwith the help of ITBP, SSB andPithoragarh district police.
In Arunachal Pradesh, torrential rains triggered a landslide at Bhalukpong in which two persons were killed. A small hillock near the Old Inspection Bungalow caved in due to heavy rains while several houses were buried under sludge.
Five officials of Intelligence Bureau have also been reported missing after the landslides.
In Maharashtra's Thane district, which was pounded by
heavy showers, one person was killed and three others are feared drowned in rain-related incidents yesterday.
A 26-year-old man drowned in Mahuli waterfall at Sahapur in the district yesterday. The body was later recovered. Besides, three youths, who had gone for a swim in Tansa river at Dhakivali, were swept away yesterday. The bodies are yet to be recovered, district disaster management officer Asmita Nikam said.
In Mumbai, Vehar lake, one of the city-based reservoirs which supplies potable water to the megapolis, started overflowing, while incessant rains continued to lash Nashik for the second day today throwing normal life out of gear.
The national capital experienced a sultry day before rains lashed several parts in the evening. The maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 32.7 degrees Celsius and the minimum settled at 25.4 degrees Celsius, both two notches below normal, the MeT office said.
Widespread rains continued to lash parts of Rajasthan, with Mavli in Udaipur receiving maximum of 13 cm rains since yesterday. Vanasthali, Kota, Jaipur, Sriganganagar and Churu also recorded 22 mm, 12.2 mm, 9 mm, 2.8 mm and 2.6 mm rains respectively today, the MeT department said.
Southwest monsoon remained active over parts of Uttar Pradesh, with the weatherman forecasting more rains in the coming days. According to the MeT office, Misrikh received 20 cm rains, Ayodhya 18 cm, Nighasan 16 cm, Sultanpur 12 cm, Handia 10 cm, Ankinghat, Mau and Chillaghat 7 cm each.
Both Punjab and Haryana witnessed increased rainfall leading to maximum temperature hovered below normal limits.
Large parts of West Bengal received low or scanty rainfall, with the state capital receiving 6.9 mm rains. Kolkata recorded maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius.
