9 die in rain-related incidents in flood-hit Bihar and Assam; toll rises to 207

New Delhi: Nine people were killed in rain-related incidents in Bihar and Assam, with the death toll rising to 207 in the two flood-hit states on Friday, while several places in the rest of India received widespread monsoon showers.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rains in several parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and sounded an "orange alert" for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.

The national capital received 0.5 mm of rainfall, according to the Safdarjung Observatory, and the maximum temperature settled at 32.5 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 26.2 degrees Celsius. The death toll in Assam increased to 80, with five more persons dying in floods, even as water level in affected districts maintained a receding trend, an official report said.

Of the five persons killed, two were from Baksa district while one death each was reported from Barpeta, Cachar and Biswanath, the Assam State Disaster Management said in its report. It said 27.15 lakh people in 2,078 villages of 17 districts are affected by the deluge. The death toll in the Bihar floods rose to 127, with four deaths being reported in the state, the disaster management department said.

Thirteen districts in the state are hit by floods, which have affected 82.84 lakh people till date, it said in a release.

Two deaths each were reported from Darbhanga and Kishanganj districts, the department said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has told the state assembly that his government will be writing to the Centre to send a team to "assess the damage" caused by the calamity, and "provide assistance as they deem fit".

Mumbai and its neighbouring areas continued to receive heavy rain spells throughout on Friday. IMD has forecast heavy rains with severe thunderstorm through the Friday night. People have been advised not to venture around the sea.

Seventeen flights were diverted to nearby airports and four flights had to do `go-around' before they could land, a spokesperson of the Mumbai airport said on Friday evening.

The Modak Sagar lake, one of the seven reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai, started overflowing on Friday afternoon following heavy rains over the past few days, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Rain pounded several parts of Odisha and the meteorological centre in Bhubaneswar has forecast heavy rainfall for the next two days in many places in the state. The centre said rain in the state was mainly triggered by a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal. In Rajasthan's Sikar district, five people were killed in rain-related incidents on Thursday. The district has been witnessing heavy rainfall, an official said on Friday. In Punjab and Haryana, the maximum temperatures hovered below the normal limits, with several parts in both the states, including their common capital Chandigarh, receiving rains in the past two days.