Heavy rain disrupts daily life in many states

Heavy rain disrupted daily life in vast areas of north India, including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, on Friday while the flood situation in Assam remained grim with major rivers flowing above the danger mark and nearly 24 lakh people affected.Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited several flood-hit areas in Dibrugarh, one of the 30 affected districts in the state, which is reeling from the worst deluge in recent years.In Assam, 77 wild animals have died -- either due to drowning or during treatment -- while 94 have been rescued from the flooded Kaziranga National Park as on Friday, an official said.The flood situation was critical with nearly 24 lakh people affected in 30 districts and all major rivers flowing above the danger mark.Two persons, including a child, were killed and another was injured in a landslide following incessant rainfall in the Dispur area of Kamrup Metropolitan district, taking the death toll in this year's floods, landslides and storms to 64.Dhubri is the worst-hit district with 6.48 lakh people affected, followed by Darrang with 1.90 lakh people and Cachar with 1.45 lakh.
In Uttarakhand, which has received heavy rain over the past few days, a five-year-old drowned in a rainwater-filled pit in Dehradun and a teenager in a Haridwar rivulet. Daily life was disrupted in the hill state as the rain triggered numerous landslides, blocking key roads, including the national highway leading to Badrinath. The State Emergency Operation Centre said landslides had blocked 88 rural motorable roads, two border roads, one state highway and the national highway leading to the Badrinath temple.
Heavy rain also lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh, leading to the closure of 64 roads. The regional Met office warned of moderate flash flood risk in few areas of Kangra, Kullu, Kinnaur, Mandi, Sirmaur and Shimla districts on Saturday.
In Rajasthan, heavy rain continued to batter the state with Malpura in Tonk district recording 176 mm rainfall in a 24-hour period.In Bikaner, a toddler was among three people killed in a wall collapse following heavy rain while three people were rescued after being stuck while crossing a stream overflowing with rainwater in Tonk.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has set up a 24x7 flood control room to monitor real-time data from the Hathnikund barrage from where water is released in the Yamuna to Delhi.Light to moderate rain was recorded in many districts, including Jaipur, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Chittorgarh, Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Udaipur and Jodhpur on Friday, a spokesperson for the Jaipur Meteorological Centre said
The Met office has predicted generally cloudy skies with light rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, on Saturday. It has also forecast heavy rainfall during the next four to five days.
Rain-drenched northern West Bengal is likely to receive more showers till July 9, the Met office said.A trough from Rajasthan to the northeast and an active monsoon over northern West Bengal is likely to bring heavy rainfall in the region, it said.Heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain in one or two places is likely in the sub-Himalayan districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Coochbehar, the Met said in a special bulletin.
Meghalaya received 44 per cent excess rains in the last one month, causing large-scale damage to public infrastructure and upending the lives of people, officials said.The state received 117.32 cm of rain between June 1 and July 3, which was 44 per cent higher than normal, a senior disaster management official said."The southern districts of the state are the worst affected," he said.