Rain claims 74 lives across country

NE suffers the most as normal life thrown out of gear due to landslides

Heavy rains have killed 74 people, including 70 from the Northeast, and displaced thousands in the past 15 days.

The weather department has predicted an increase in the intensity of rains, with the monsoon moving towards northwest India. The monsoon has covered Maharashtra and Gujarat and parts of southern Rajasthan and western Madhya Pradesh, apart from the Northeast.

Heavy rains lashed suburban Mumbai, leading to waterlogging and traffic jams.

In Rajasthan, a sub-divisional magistrate and his vehicle were washed away by a sudden current in a river. His body is yet to be recovered.

At least 50 people died in flood-related incidents of drowning, landslides and electrocution in Assam till Thursday.

In Madhya Pradesh, many areas in Rewa and Satna were submerged and the authorities have relocated hundreds to safer places.

SK Dey, meteorologist at India Meteorological department (IMD), Bhopal, said an alert has been issued in western MP such as Indore, Ratlam, Agar Malwa, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Ujjain and Barwani for the next 24 hours. The state government has deferred local body elections in Dhar and Barwani, where houses of 15,000 people will be submerged because of release of additional water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam because of rains.

Weather department officials said the rains were good for second round of sowing and would mean higher agricultural output this year.