New Delhi: Rain fury continued in most
parts of North India with Army called in for relief works in
UP, the western part of which was declared disaster-hit zone,
even as Delhi experienced a pleasant and cloudy day.
Army has been called in for rescue and relief operations
in Uttar Pradesh`s Shahjahanpur and Badaun districts as all
major rivers in the state continued to flow above the danger
mark following continuous rains in Uttarakhand and discharge
of water in barrages.
The state government has declared Western Uttar Pradesh
as a disaster-hit zone and sought a flood relief package of Rs
2,000 crore from the Centre.
Some of the worst-affected districts in the region
included Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad, Rampur, Bijnore, Bareilly,
Pilibhit, Shajahanpur, Jotipholanagar, Badayun and Saharanpur.
NDRF and PAC personnel were assisting in flood relief
works and food packets were being dropped in marooned villages
in the affected districts.
The traffic on the National Highway connecting Delhi with
Lucknow continued to remain adversely hit.
Ganga was flowing above the danger mark at Bulandshahr
and Kannauj. Ram Ganga was flowing above the danger mark in
Moradabad and Shanjahanpur and Yamuna was flowing above the
red mark in Mavi, Mathura and Auraiya. Sharda was flowing
above the danger level at Palia Kalan and Kheri.
Ghaghra was flowing above the red mark at Elgin Bridge,
Barabanki, Ayodhya, Bahraich and Siddhartnagar.
Baghpat district received the maximum rainfall of 157mm
in the state.
A farmer was washed away in the overflowing Yamuna river
at Dond Kheri village.
Heavy rains lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh,
triggering landslides at various areas in the state and
disrupting flight and train services.
The train services on Shimla-Kalka narrow gauge section
remained suspended due to landslides at some places and
sinking of track near Kaithalighat.
Shimla-Delhi flights were suspended, while a rescue
operation to evacuate 40 tourists from Sangal valley in
Kinnaur district had to be aborted due to inclement weather.
As many as 123 tourists were trapped in the valley for
the past eight days due to massive landslides on Karchham-
Sangla road.
The state capital Shimla recorded 84.2 mm rainfall
followed by Solan at 82.6 mm.
The mercury registered marginal fall with maximum
temperature staying between 17 and 32.5 deg C. Shimla recorded
a high of 20.8 deg C.
While Kalpa in Kinnaur was the coldest in the region with
a low of 8.7 deg C, Una remained the hottest with a high of
32.2 deg C.
Incessant rains hit many parts of Punjab, Haryana and
Chandigarh with swollen Yamuna and Sutlej rivers keeping army
and civil authorities on high alert.
Heavy downpours inundated several low-lying areas in the
two states.
Most of the areas along the embankments of Yamuna and
Sutlej rivers in the two agrarian states were affected by
flash floods.
The worst affected districts included Yamunanagar,
Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Palwal, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Bhiwani,
Ludhiana, Feozepur, Patiala and Ropar.
Chandigarh recorded 66.8 mm of rains followed by Patiala
at 52.3 mm.
Delhiites woke up to a pleasant morning with a slight
drizzle in many parts of the city.
However, Yamuna river continued to flow above the danger
mark at 206.92 meter though it slightly receded from
yesterday`s when it had crossed the 207-metre mark for first
time in 32 years submerging various ares in the city.
The government has already shifted hundreds of people
from low-lying areas such as Garhi Mandu, Usmanpur Pusta,
Jagatpur Village and Shastri Nagar to relief camps.
After a fortnight spell of rains, weather remained dry
with few places receiving drizzles in Rajasthan.
Light to moderate rainfall occurred at several places in
Jaipur, Bharatpur and Bikaner divisions and at isolated places
in Ajmer and Jodhpur divisions.
PTI
