Flood death toll 13 in Bihar as 2 more die

NEWDELHI: The death toll in Bihar floods climbed to 13 on Saturday after two fresh casualties were reported, while floodwaters of the overflowing rivers in Uttar Pradesh affected 331 villages and about 1.90 lakh people following heavy rains.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued yellow alert for 10 districts in Kerala for the next four days, and heavy to very heavy rainfall for Mumbai and some other districts from August 3 to 5.

The MET Department has forecast heavy rainfall for Uttar Pradesh and gave a fresh yellow weather warning for heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh for August 4 and 5.

Heavy rains are expected over central plains and western coast on August 6 due to a low pressure area, Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary M Rajeevan said. Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana received light rainfall, while the Uttarakhand government started rescue operations through a helicopter in two subdivisions of Pithoragarh district, which was wreaked by heavy rains in the past few days.

In Assam, no fresh deaths were reported while the flood situation improved further as water receded from one more district, though 10.63 lakh people across 20 districts are still affected by the calamity In Delhi, a fresh spell of rains kept the mercury within comfortable levels. The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded a maximum of 36.3 degrees Celsius and 6.7 mm rainfall. Humidity levels shot up to 95 per cent, causing slight inconvenience to the residents.

In Bihar, the two fresh casualties were reported from Muzaffarpur district.

Earlier, Darbhanga and West Champaran had reported seven and four deaths, respectively, according to a bulletin issued by the state disaster management authority.