Bihar, Assam Flood Toll Touches 174; Widespread Rains Predicted In Northern India

The IMD has also issued a heavy rainfall warning for Mumbai, while Raigad and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra have been warned of extremely heavy showers at isolated places on Wednesday and Thursday.

Army soldiers rescuing people in Nagaon district of Assam. (PTI)

New Delhi: Floods in Bihar and Assam claimed four more lives on Tuesday taking the toll to 174, while two persons were killed due to lightning in Uttar Pradesh, even as the northern states are expected to receive widespread rains in the next few days. The IMD has also issued a heavy rainfall warning for Mumbai, while Raigad and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra have been warned of extremely heavy showers at isolated places on Wednesday and Thursday. It has predicted rain or thundershowers in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh from July 24 to 27. The national capital on Tuesday recorded a high of 37.6 degrees Celsius and a low of 28.2 degrees Celsius while relative humidity oscillated between 57 and 92 per cent. Private weather forecasting agency Skymet said Delhi is in for heavy to very heavy showers on Thursday and Friday, which would be one of the heaviest spells of the monsoon season so far in the city. Death toll in the Bihar flash floods climbed to 106 with the calamity claiming two more lives in Madhubani, even as 80.55 lakh people in 12 districts remained affected by the deluge. However, water levels have started receding in several districts and consequently the number of relief camps and those taking shelter there have gone down considerably, disaster management department officials said. Watch- But the flood situation in Assam remained grim with the toll mounting to 68 on Tuesday following two more deaths while 28.01 lakh people in 19 of the 33 districts of the state grappled with the deluge. Though flood waters have receded in Biswanath and Karbi Anglong districts, the deluge has again hit Lakhimpur and Baksa, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said. The two fresh deaths were reported from Morigaon and Golaghat districts, it said. A total of 1.04 lakh people are still sheltered in 782 relief camps and distribution centres set up by district administrations, the ASDMA said. At least 2,523 villages and 1.27 lakh hectare crop land are still submerged in the flood-hit districts and the NDRF and the SDRF are working round the clock to rescue the marooned people. In the Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat district, 204 animals, including 15 rhinos, have died since July 13 even as water has been showing a receding trend there. The mighty Brahmaputra river is flowing above danger levels at Neamatighat in Jorhat district and Dhubri district, the Jia Bharali at N T Road Crossing in Sonitpur district, the Puthimari at NH Road Crossing in Kamrup district, the Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta district, the Gaurang in Kokrajhar and Kushiara in Karimganj district, the ASDMA said. The Uttar Pradesh government said that eight people have lost their lives in incidents of natural calamity and snakebite since Sunday. "As many as eight deaths have been reported. Of this two persons died in Allahabad on Tuesday due to lightning," a statement said. Two persons died due to snakebite in Hardoi on July 21. On July 22, a person died Ghazipur and another in Ambedkarnagar, both due to snake bite. That same day, one person died due to lightning in Lalitpur, while a wall collapse following heavy rains in Khiri claimed another life, the statement said. Hot and humid weather conditions persisted in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir with the mercury in the twin capitals of the state settling above the season's average for the third consecutive day. Jammu was the hottest place in the state with a maximum of 36.1 degrees Celsius, 2.4 degrees above normal. The summer capital Srinagar also recorded a high of 33.1 degrees Celsius. In Leh, the maximum temperature was 28.1 degrees Celsius while Kargil recorded a high of 31.5 degrees Celsius. Day temperatures rose slightly and hovered above normal levels in Haryana and Punjab with Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recording a maximum of 36.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal. Ambala in Haryana registered a high of 37.2 degrees Celsius while Hisar and Karnal recorded maximum temperatures of 37.9 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius respectively. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 36, two notches above normal. Ludhiana and Patiala registered their maximum at 35.2 and 36.1 degrees Celsius respectively. Most places in sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh witnessed rain and thundershowers. Coastal and south interior Karnataka, Goa and Kerala also received rains.