NEW DELHI: Heavy rains led to swelling of many rivers in the country with two deaths reported in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh today while the flood situation remained grim in Assam where seven more persons have died in the deluge taking the toll to 59.
Two persons lost their lives in Sivasagar, one each was killed in flood-related incidents in Morigaon, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, Sonitpur and Jorhat districts.
With this, the total number of persons losing their lives in this year's flood-related incidents has gone up to 59, which includes eight in Guwahati.
Nearly 12 lakh people in 24 districts are affected by the deluge. Around 52 per cent area of Kaziranga National Park was submerged which led to death of some animals while some others moved to nearby highlands.
At present 1,795 villages in the state are inundated. The worst affected is South Salmara, where over 3.07 lakh people have been affected by the deluge.
The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at four places -- Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns. A major portion of the National Highway 2 between Nagaland and Manipur was severely damaged due to a landslide near Viswema village in Nagaland's Kohima district.
Light rains were witnessed in several parts of the national capital with the maximum temperature settling at 36.4 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 28.4 degrees Celsius. The Safdarjung observatory, the recording of which is considered official for the city, received 4.8 mm rainfall. Humidity levels oscillated between 82 and 63 per cent.
With monsoon remaining active in Uttar Pradesh, waters in major rivers like Ghaghra and Sharda were flowing above the danger mark at some places in the state.
The danger of floods was looming over villages in four tehsils of Barabanki district with Nepal releasing water in the Ghaghra river.
With several villages of Ramsanehi ghat and Sirauli Gauspur tehsils inundated, locals have taken shelter on the river embankments, officials said adding relief was being provided to the affected people.
Two minor boys were washed away by the rising waters of the river Ganga after their bullock cart overturned in Sambhal district.
The body of one of the boys has been recovered. The river Sharda was flowing above the red mark at Palia Kalan the Ghaghra river has crossed the danger mark at Elgin Bridge in Barabanki.
Heavy rains lashed parts of Rajasthan with Sirohi in Mount Abu recording 17 cm rainfall, the highest in the state. Pipalkhut and Kotda in Udaipur both received 10 cm rains till this morning.
Abu Road and Reodar, Bakani gauged 9 cm rainfall.
In Gujarat, heavy rains lashed parts of the state, including Morbi, Surendranagar and Rajkot districts, leading to reservoirs and rivers overflowing their banks, resulting in the death of one person.
Hundreds of people in these three districts were shifted to safer places from low-lying areas near rivers and dams.
In Rajkot, authorities have asked citizens not to venture out of their houses. Chotila in Surendranagar received around 450 mm of rain while Tankara in Morbi district registered 340 mm rainfall.
Rajkot city received 400 mm of rainfall till 11 am.
Following heavy rains, Aji and Macchu rivers in Rajkot and Surendranagar districts respectively, have swollen. "NDRF teams have been stationed in Tankar, Chotila and Valsad, Surat of South Gujarat and Palanpur in north Gujarat," a government release said.
Maximum temperatures stayed close to the normal levels at most places in Punjab and Haryana with Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, recording a high of 33.5 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a high of 33.3 degrees Celsius while Hisar and Karnal registered maximums of 37.5 degrees Celsius and 34.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Amritsar in Punjab recorded a high of 35.7 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded their maximums at 35.8 degrees Celsius and 35.2 degrees Celsius, respectively. Moderate to heavy rains occurred in parts of Himachal Pradesh with the exception of the lower hills which witnessed a hot and humid day.
Dharamshala which received 95 mm of rains was the wettest place in the state. There was no significant change in the minimum and maximum temperatures.
Odisha is likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall due to formation of a low pressure area in northwest Bay of Bengal off the coast of north Odisha and West Bengal.
Most places of the state received light to moderate rainfall since yesterday. Cuttack received 45 mm rains while Sundergarh gauged 36 mm of precipitation.
Light rainfall occurred at one or two places in Bihar with maximum temperature was hovering around 35 degrees Celsius in four major cities of Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea.
Bhagalpur recorded the highest maximum temperature of 35.8 degrees Celsius followed by 35.4 degrees Celsius in Purnea, 35.2 degrees Celsius in Patna and 34.2 degrees Celsius in Gaya.