Heavy monsoon rains today lashed Kerala, flooding low-lying areas in the state, while floods claimed two lives in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.
The northern states, however, continued to reel under heat wave conditions with Banda in Uttar Pradesh sizzling at 46 degrees.
It was another sultry day for Delhiites with rains eluding the city. The maximum temperature was recorded at 39.6 and the minimum at 26.9 degrees. The weatherman has predicted overcast conditions tomorrow.
Rains and floods claimed two lives in Tamil Nadu, while a flood warning was issued for people living on the banks of two rivers in Kanyakumari district.
A 25-year old contract engineer of a private hospital was swept away in flash floods while taking bath in Rajakamangalam Panri Vaykal (channel). In another incident in the district, a 10-year old boy was swept by floodwaters after he fell into a channel while playing near here house in Marungoor.
The district, adjoining Kerala, where the south-west monsoon is active, received heavy rains accompanied by strong winds and thunder. Kulasekaram and Tiruvattar towns were inundated.
Several low-lying areas in the town were flooded, cutting off traffic and movement of vehicles. The authorities sounded flood alert in Kuzhithurai and Sitraru as both rivers were in spate.
PWD officials said various dams, including the Pechiparai Dam, were fast filling up.
Heavy monsoon rains lashed Kerala, leaving many low lying areas waterlogged. Piravom in Ernakulam district recorded 11 cm of rainfall while Nedumangad in the state capital 8 cm. Kollam, Vaikom and Kanjirappally in Kottayam district recorded 7 cm of rains each.
In Mankada in Malappuram district, a portion of a school building collapsed under the impact of heavy rains, but a major disaster was averted, on account of it being a Sunday.
In the North, heat wave continued in parts of Rajasthan with Kota recording the highest temperature at 42.2 degree Celsius.
Kota was followed by Jaipur and Jaisalmer, where maximum temperature was recorded at 41.2 degree Celsius and 41 degree Celsius, respectively.
In Uttar Pradesh, hot weather conditions persisted in Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Bareilly, Jhansi, Faizabad and Lucknow. Banda was the hottest place at 46 degrees. Some parts in the East, however, witnessed moderate rains and thundershowers.
In Assam, where no part of the state received heavy rains
since yesterday, flood waters are receding from the four affected districts - Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Morigaon, Jorhat - but the situation remains critical.
Fourteen relief camps are operating in two districts and over 2,500 people have taken shelter there. Nearly 7,500 hectares of crop land has been damaged.
In New Delhi, the Safdarjung observatory recorded 1.4 mm rainfall between 8.30 AM and 5.30 PM whereas areas under Palam, Lodhi road, Ridge and Ayanagar recorded 17.2 mm, 0.9 mm, 35 mm and 61.4 mm rainfall respectively in that period.
Traffic snarls due to rains were witnessed in some parts of the national capital. The maximum temperature was recorded at 35 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average while the minimum settled at 28.8, a notch above the normal.
In Uttar Pradesh, monsoon was subdued over eastern parts and normal over western districts leading to light to moderate rain/thundershowers at isolated places in the east UP and few places over the west.
While many parts of the country have been receiving monsoon rains in excess, Punjab and Haryana are yet to witness good monsoon falls after its arrival nearly 10 days back.
In the absence of significant rainfall, sultry weather conditions continued to prevail at many places in Punjab and Haryana. Amritsar recorded a maximum of 36.2 degrees Celsius, up one notch against normal.
Monsoon rains continued to elude most parts of Bihar today with the weather office predicting a cloudy sky with possibility of rain or thunder over the next 24 hours in the state.
During the day, Bhagalpur received 4.1 mm rainfall followed by 2 mm in Purnea and 1.3 mm in Gaya.
