Heavy rains lash Gujarat; flood situation improves in Assam

Heavy rains battered Gujarat, causing a flood-like situation, while in neighbouring Maharashtra the intensity of rains reduced on Monday, even as the flood situation improved in Assam, where one person lost his life in the deluge.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the monsoon remains "vigorous" and heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in parts of Gujarat in the next three days and moderate rains in parts of Maharashtra.

Due to heavy rainfall in Gujarat, a nearly 30-year-old bridge over a river in Junagadh district caved in, a local official said, adding that no one was injured.

A team of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) was also deployed at the state's Khambhalia town to meet rain-related exigencies in the area, officials said.

Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan received light to moderate rainfall, while heavy rains lashed isolated places in these states.

In Delhi, sporadic light rains kept the mercury in check and more precipitation is likely in the next few days.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 0.6 mm rainfall and a maximum of 36.2 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.

The MeT Department has forecast light to moderate rains, thundershowers, and strong surface winds in Delhi on Tuesday.

In Assam, one person was killed in the flood at Raha of Nagaon district, officials said.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flooding and landslide has gone up to 62 across the state, of whom 38 people were killed by flood and 24 died due to landslides.

According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 3.86 lakh people are affected due to floods in Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Biswanath, Chirang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Tinsukia districts.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and district administrations have rescued 128 people during the last 24 hours in two districts.

After witnessing a spell of heavy rainfall over the past three days, Mumbai and neighbouring Thane in Maharashtra received moderate rains, but the IMD predicted showers will continue in the night in the region.

According to the India Meteorological Department, the Santacruz weather bureau (in suburbs) recorded 5.2 mm rainfall, while the Colaba weather station, representative of the island city, reported 1.2 mm rainfall between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm.

In eastern Uttar Pradesh, light to moderate rains occurred at many places while heavy showers lashed isolated places in the western parts in the last 24 hours, the Meteorological (MeT) Department said.

Thundershowers accompanied by lightning is likely to occur at most places in the state over the next three days, it said.

Weather in Punjab and Haryana remained pleasant as the maximum temperatures at both the places hovered close to normal limits.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum of 35.4 degrees Celsius.     A yellow weather warning was issued by the MeT Department in Himachal Pradesh for heavy rains, thunderstorm and lightning on July 9 and 10. The state witnessed light to moderate rainfall in several parts.

Yellow, the least dangerous of all the weather warnings, indicates the possibility of severe weather over the next few days.

Rajasthan received light to moderate rainfall in many parts, while heavy rains lashed isolated places in the state. Ghatol in Banswara district recorded the maximum rainfall of 8 cm during the 24 hours till Monday morning.

Mundwa (Nagaur), Shergarh (Jodhpur) recorded 7 cm and 6 cm of rainfall, respectively, during this period. Many other places recorded rainfall below 6 cm.