North India reels under heavy rains; toll crosses 100

Incessant rains pouring over parts of North India since the past few days led to more areas being marooned by swollen rivers as the toll crossed 100 in the region, with 14 more deaths in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

Heavy rains continued to batter Uttar Pradesh, where 14 more people perished in rain-related incidents, taking the toll this season to 270 in the state. Over 1,000 villages, mostly in western UP, were affected by the downpour while the flood situation in 47 of them was grave.

Ganga and Ramganga were flowing above the danger level at many places while the water level in Yamuna was rising alarmingly. Delhi too received heavy overnight rains as Yamuna flowed well above the danger mark of 204.83 metres, threatening to submerge more low-lying areas along its course.

Railways cancelled 22 trains and diverted 65 others as the Old Yamuna bridge was closed for road and rail traffic following the rise in water level in the river. The weather remained cloudy during the day that led to the maximum temperature settling five notches below normal to settle at 29.5 degree celsius.

However, the humidity was on the higher side, oscillating between 78 and 92 per cent as the city received 3.2 mm of rains during the day.

Meanwhile, the monsoon became active again in most parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, resulting in a flood-like situation in many areas. Nearly 60 villages along the embankments of Yamuna and Sutlej are facing a grim situation as authorities issued a red alert.

As a precautionary measure, residents of some of these villages were shifted to safer places. Elsewhere in the region, Chandigarh was drenched by 122.1 mm of rainfall while Ludhiana received 37.7 mm of rains.

In Himachal Pradesh, torrential rains wrecked havoc, triggering landslides, uprooting trees and damaging houses and roads. One person died and two others were injured when they were hit by a boulder at Nathpa Jhulla in tribal Kinnaur district.

Nearly 150 tourists were stranded at Sangla in Kinnaur as the main link road was blocked due to a massive landslide. Shimla received a record rainfall of 150 mm while Solan received 102 mm of rains.

Over two dozen houses were damaged in the state capital. In the desert state of Rajasthan, many places received widespread rainfall with Sriganagar recording 17.5 mm rainfall.