Bihar floods toll rises 222; moderate rains in parts of north India

With six more deaths being reported on Saturday, the toll in Bihar floods reached to 222, even as most of the major rivers in the state are flowing below the danger mark, while parts of north India received moderate rainfall.

Six fresh deaths were reported from Bhagalpur district.  The floods have affected 31.30 lakh people in 1,725 villages of 12 districts, the Disaster Management Department said.

According to the Water Resources Department, Punpun river at Sripalpur in Patna and the Kosi river at Baltara in Khagaria district are flowing above the danger level. The other rivers, including the Ganga, are flowing below the danger mark.

Intermittent rains brought down temperatures in the state, even as the humidity remained high. Patna which received 2.6 mm rainfall since yesterday recorded a high of 31.4 degrees Celsius. Gaya received 1.8 mm rains, while the maximum temperature was 31.8 degrees Celsius.

In the national capital, it was a sunny day with the mercury settling two notches above normal even as humidity levels oscillated between 94 and 49 per cent.

“The maximum temperature was recorded at 35.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal while the minimum settled at 26.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal,” a MeT official said.

In Uttarakhand, the MeT department has forecast heavy rainfall in parts of the state over the next two days. Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places especially in Dehradun, Udhamsingh Nagar and Nainital districts.

Some parts of Himachal Pradesh, received heavy rainfall while in most other parts the weather remained dry.

Shimla, which received 9 mm rains, witnessed overcast condition, while Sundernagar was the wettest with 75 mm rainfall. Una recorded maximum temperature of 35.3 degrees Celsius.

Light to moderate rains and thundershowers occurred at isolated places in eastern Uttar Pradesh, even as the weather was dry over western parts of the state.

In most parts of Punjab and Haryana, maximum temperatures continued to hover just above normal levels as the weather remained generally dry. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a high of 34 degrees Celsius.

The southwest-monsoon has been active over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim. heavy to very heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places in Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar districts of the sub-Himalayan region of West Bengal.