Gujarat toll increases to 218; Odisha lightning kills 16 more

Rains lashed many parts of north India on Monday triggering landslides in some places in which two persons were killed while lightning strikes in different parts of Odisha claimed the lives of 16 people and left over a dozen injured, raising the toll in such incidents to 34 since Sunday.

The flood toll in Gujarat has risen to 218 this monsoon, with 61 people killed in worst-hit Banaskantha district, an official said on Monday.

"218 people have died, with 61 in Banaskantha and seven in neighbouring Patan district," an official of the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

The toll increased in the last two days after more bodies were found as flood waters receded in Banaskantha and Patan districts of north Gujarat, he said.

Floods due to torrential rain and release of water from dams affected 4.5 lakh people in the state, with over 39,000 people shifted to safer places and 11,400 rescued last week by teams of the Army, Air Force and National and State Disaster Response Forces.

Four persons were killed in separate incidents in Cuttack district while three deaths each were reported from Sambalpur and Khurda districts. One each died in Puri, Mayurbhanj, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal and Bargarh districts, official sources said.

Eighteen people had died after being struck by lightning in the state on Sunday, the sources said. Most of the victims were farm labourers who were engaged in paddy fields when lightning struck.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced ex- gratia of Rs four lakh each for the families of the 18 people.

In Cuttack district, three people were killed in lightning strikes in Kadalibada, Dorada and Manipur villages of Athgarh area, while one died in Nischintakoili area, they said.

Eight school students sustained burn injuries after lightning struck their school building in Athgarh area, sources said.

In Sambalpur district, lightning claimed the lives of three persons in Jagannathprasad, Kutasingha and Balasingha in Naktideul area, District Emergency Officer (DEO), Sanjeev Kumar Pujari said.

14-year-old boy died at Jhinkijhari, while the two others were killed at Andharua and Dhauli areas near Bhubaneswar, in Khurda district

In Deogarh, it was a school teacher who was killed near Kharumunda as lightning struck when he was returning after attending a meeting, officials said.A farm labourer was killed in Arpata in Mayurbhanj after being hit by lightning when he was working in the paddy field, police said.

Rail traffic remained affected due to heavy rains in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Six trains including the Jodhpur- Gandhidham Express have been cancelled, eight trains partially cancelled and route of four have been changed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the floods in Assam and Rajasthan.

In Uttarakhand, two bikers were killed in a landslide at Bhauriyaband on Nainital-Almora highway following intermittent rains. In another landslide along the same highway at Khairana a JCB was buried.

The weather department has issued a heavy rain alert for both Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand over the next 72 hours.

Heavy rainfall occurred at isolated areas in Jaipur and Udaipur divisions in Rajasthan while light to moderate rains were recorded many places across the state.

Incessant rains led to multiple landslides in Jammu and Kashmir's Mehar and Seeri and triggered shooting of stones from a hillock at Panthyal, forcing closure of the Jammu- Srinagar National Highway briefly.