14 more killed in Bihar floods, 5 die in Himachal

Fourteen more people perished in the devastating floods in Bihar today taking the death toll to 149 this monsoon while five members of a family were washed away following a cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh.

 

In Bihar, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made an aerial survey of several flood-affected districts during the day, the swollen Ganga river was still flowing above the danger level.

 

The floods have been caused by overflowing Ganga, Sone, Punpun, Burhi Gandak, Ghaghra, Kosi and other rivers and have affected 32.51 lakh people in 2,018 villages under 553 panchayats of 74 blocks in the state, it said.

 

Ganga, though showing a receding trend, is flowing above the danger mark at seven places - Digha Ghat, Gandhi Ghat, Hathidah in Patna, Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, besides in Munger and Buxar districts.

 

A total 4.16 lakh people have been evacuated so far from the 12 flood-affected districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar, the release said.

 

Heavy rains today lashed parts of the national capital, raising humidity levels even as the downpour resulted in waterlogging in certain areas leading to traffic jams.

 

"The maximum temperature was recorded at 35.1 degrees Celsius, while the minimum settled at 26.8 degrees Celsius, both a notch above normal," a MeT official said.

 

In Himachal Pradesh, five members of the family were washed away following a cloudburst in Gawaldi village of Naren Panchayat in Rampur area of Shimla district in the wee hours.

 

The cloudburst damaged the link roads, and the spot which is about 150 kms away from Shimla in the interiors of Shimla district was inaccessible.

 

Several rivers continued to flow above the danger mark in Uttar Pradesh with fresh rains at many places.

 

According to a Central Water Commission report, though rivers Ganga and the Yamuna have started receding in the state they are still flowing above danger mark at many places.

 

Despite receding waters, Ganga is still flowing above danger mark at Fafamu, Chhatnag, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia while Yamuna is above the red mark at Naini (Allahabad).

 

"28 districts are still flood affected, and relief and rescue operations are on," Relief Commissioner's office said.

 

A total of 8.7 lakh people in 987 villages in Varanasi, Allahabad, Ghazipur and Ballia are affected due to floods.

 

Maximum temperatures across Punjab and Haryana today soared with mercury settling up to three notches above normal at most places in the region.