15 dead as heavy rains lash UP, Rajasthan, Jharkhand

New Delhi, June 29 (PTI) Heavy rains lashed India's
northern state of Uttar Pradesh, north-western desert state of
Rajasthan and eastern state Jharkhand, leaving 15 people dead
as a delayed Southwest Monsoon advanced to these states while
pre-monsoon showers brought down the mercury in northern
states Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

In Uttar Pradesh, which received heavy rains for the
second consecutive day, lightning claimed seven lives. While
two persons were killed in Maharajganj, three died in
Sonbhadra and one each in Ballia and Gorakhpur districts.

Gorakhpur witnessed 60 mm rainfall, Basti and Gonda
recorded 178.4 mm and 33 mm rainfall respectively,
Meteorological Department said.

Temperature dropped below 40 degree Celsius at a
number of places. In Lucknow the maximum temperature was 32.2
degree Celsius, five notches below normal.

Ending a long dry spell, heavy rains lashed several
parts of Jharkhand. However, at least eight persons were
killed and a dozen others injured in lightning strikes in
Garwah, Giridih and Palamau districts.

Delayed by 10 days, the southwest Monsoon reached
eastern Rajasthan as light to moderate rains were received in
parts of Ajmer, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Jaipur, Sawaimadhopur,
Banswara, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, and Kota districts, he said.

A maximum rainfall of 29.8 mm was recorded at
Bharatpur followed by Jaipur 23.2mm, Banswara 16.4 mm and
Chittorgarh 8 mm.

The southwest monsoon Monday covered entire Madhya
Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhatisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and many parts
of east Uttar Pradesh, bringing relief to millions of people
reeling under intense heat.

Aided by the low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal,
monsoon has covered entire Central India and some parts of
Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh, India Meteorological
Department Director B P Yadav told PTI.

"Conditions are favourable for further advance of
southwest monsoon over some more parts of Rajasthan, remaining
parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and some parts of east
Rajasthan and west UP in the next two days," he said.

Cloudy sky and scattered rains in various parts of
Delhi Monday failed to bring respite from scorching heat to
the residents as the mercury hovered around 40 degree Celcius
mark and the humidity level remained high.

Haryana and Punjab finally saw some pre-monsoon
showers. Southern parts of Haryana, including Mewat and Rewari
districts, and Anandpur Sahib and Madhopur in Punjab received
rains. With the arrival of rains, farmers are expected to
begin sowing for the kharif crop, which is crucial for the
country's economy. In Himachal Pradesh, Mandi received 52.8 mm
rainfall, Dharamsala (38 mm) and Shimla (29 mm).

Meanwhile, mercury dropped at many places in the
northern region Monday, with maximum temperature at Chandigarh
falling by over three degrees since yesterday to settle at
38.5 C.

Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab also witnessed a fall
in maximum temperature, which settled at 38.5 C and 38.2 C,
respectively. However, heat wave continued to sweep Amritsar
at 44 degrees Celsius.

Mercury continues to hover above normal in Jammu and
Kashmir with weathermen forcasting mainly dry weather for next
24 hours.

The day temperature in Srinagar settled at 32.6
degrees Celsius - three degrees above normal while minimum
temperature recorded one degree above normal at 16.5 degrees
celsius, Met office said.

However, Jammu recorded normal day temperature of 41.4
degrees celisus. The night temperature was three degrees above
normal at 31.2 degrees celsius.

Katra in Jammu region was the second hottest place
with a high of 38.8 and a low of 28.3 degrees. PTI TEAM
PMR
NNNN



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