Widespread rain lashes northern states

New Delhi: The death toll in flood-hit Maharashtra rose to 207 on Tuesday and heavy rains coupled with discharge of water from the Koyna dam forced the evacuation of lakhs of people while the northern states received widespread showers.

The meteorological department has forecast heavy rain in Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal over the next few days under the influence of a low pressure that has formed over the Bay of Bengal.

The death toll in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra rose to 209 with the worst-hit Raigad district alone accounting for nearly 100 fatalities, while 8 people are still missing, the state government said. Heavy rains last week caused massive floods and landslides in large parts of the state, especially in the coastal Konkan and western Maharashtra regions.

Out of the 209 deaths caused due to heavy rains and floods since last week, the maximum 95 were from Raigad district followed by 45 in Satara, 35 in Ratnagiri, 14 in Thane, 7 in Kolhapur, 4 in Mumbai suburban, 3 in Pune, two each in Sindhudurg, Wardha and Akola districts, said a statement of the state disaster management department.

Since June 1, as many as 296 people have died in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra, it said.

Local officials are struggling to expedite the rescue operations because of the difficult terrain and showers, said an official from the disaster management department.

Rains over the Sahyadri mountains, which are parts of the Western Ghats have increased the water level of rivers flowing through Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur districts, forcing the administration to evacuate more people.

As many as 4,34,185 people have been evacuated so far, of which 2,11,808 are from Sangli alone, the statement said.

Sangli district did not receive heavy rainfall, but a heavy discharge of water from a dam on the Koyna river in Satara district resulted in Sangli city and several villages getting flooded.

In Thane district's Bhiwandi, two senior citizens were injured when a portion of an old two-storey house collapsed due to heavy rains.

Up north, temperatures hovered below normal limits at most places in Punjab and neighbouring Haryana where some areas were lashed by rains.

Haryana's Ambala recorded a maximum temperature of 32.1 degrees Celsius, while Hisar registered a high of 33.8 degrees Celsius. Punjab's Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Faridkot and Bathinda recorded their respective maximum temperatures at 30.8 degrees Celsius, 30.7 degrees Celsius, 31.8 degrees Celsius, 33.5 degrees Celsius and 32.5 degrees Celsius.

Light to moderate rains also occurred at a few places over eastern Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in the western part of the state.