Rain and flood fury claim 7 lives in Andhra, Assam

Heavy rains on Tuesday aggravated the flood situation in north West Bengal and claimed five lives in Andhra Pradesh, while Assam witnessed two more deaths as the state, and Arunachal Pradesh continues to battle flood, amid a forecast of more rains.

The weatherman has warned of "very heavy" rain in Uttarakhand and Gujarat and "heavy rains" in Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Kerala.

Delhi received rain in the afternoon that aggravated prevailing sultry conditions. The city gauged 4.6 mm of rainfall. The maximum temperature was recorded at 35.8 degrees Celsius and humidity level was between 42 and 83 per cent.

Five persons, including two children, were killed in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa district when the roof of a house collapsed on them due to heavy rains.

Authorities in West Bengal said some places have got massive 200 to 300 mm of rains. The flood has so far claimed four lives in the state and hit 60,000 people. The situation in flood-ravaged Namsai and East Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh remained grim even as the water level in several rivers in other affected areas showed a receding trend with an improvement in weather condition.

Most of the roads have been severely damaged and several areas cut off due to washing away of culverts. Supply of electricity has been in Lekang circle. Movement of vehicles on NH-52 has been suspended due to flood water which has weakened two culverts. 

Around 3,500 hectares of agriculture field, 115 fish ponds were totally submerged and damaged by flood water in the district. 3,500 houses were completely damaged and the residential areas still inundated.

The district administration, with the help of NDRF and CRPF, has intensified relief operation and rescued around 260 people over the past three days.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh telephoned Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to enquire about the flood situation in the state. The Assam government later said a team from the Centre will visit the state to review the flood situation.