Heavy rains hit normal life across north India

Unrelenting rains threw normal life out of gear in northern India where major rivers were swelling dangerously causing flooding in several low-lying areas today. Moderate to heavy rains continued to lash most places in Punjab and Haryana as the water level of Yamuna rose further, prompting authorities to declare alert in many villages in Sonipat, officials said. In the national capital, heavy rains lashed most areas, inflating the Yamuna with authorities shifting people living in low-lying areas. Delhi, which has witnessed the wettest August in the last 15 years, received 44.10 mm of rainfall since yesterday, which is 19.2 mm more than Friday. Yamuna is now flowing at a level of 205.05 metres, which makes it 22 cm above the danger level of 204.83 metres. Around 500 people living close to the river bank have been evacuated and shifted to camps that have been set up in safer areas, according to officials. Heavy showers resulted in the maximum temperature dropping to 28.4 degree Celsius, which is six degrees below normal. Humidity too was very high between 98 and 94 per cent. In Uttar Pradesh, flood-like situation prevailed in several districts as major rivers continued to swell due to heavy rainfall, official sources said here. According to the report of the Central Water Commission, Ganga river was rising at almost all the places in the state including Fatehgarh, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Allahabad, Rae Bareli, Kanpur, and Gumtia. Yamuna was flowing marginally below danger mark in Mathura and was swelling at Agra, Etawah, Kalpi, Hamirpur, Banda and Naini in Allahabad. Moradabad recorded the highest 84.4 mm rainfall in the state since yesterday, followed by 35.4 in Kalagarh (Bijnore) and 31.6 in Bagpath. State capital Lucknow and Kanpur recorded 28.6 mm and 24.2 mm rainfall respectively. A man was killed after being buried under boulders near Srinagar town in Uttarakhand, as moderate to rather heavy rains paralyzed normal life in the state. Many areas of Garhwal and Kumaon received moderate to rather heavy rainfall with Dehra Dun recording 106 mm of rainfall followed by New Tehri with 52 mm and Pantnagar 40 mm since yesterday.

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