Heavy rains hit lives in several parts of country

New Delhi, Aug. 20: Heavy rains disrupted normal life in many parts of the country, including Delhi and adjoining Gurgaon, on Thursday and led to worsening of the flood situation in Uttar Pradesh where over 870 villages in 16 districts have been affected.

In Bihar, the flood situation remained grim. With two more deaths, the toll in the Bihar flood climbed to 27 as 81.79 lakh people were affected in 16 districts.

Low-lying areas were submerged and electricity and road links snapped at several places in Odisha after torrential rains triggered by a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal lashed the state.

In Jammu and Kashmir, multiple landslides triggered by heavy rains blocked the 270-km JammuSrinagar national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir to rest of the country.

Rains in Delhi and its neighbouring areas this morning led to long traffic snarls and damaged property. The Ayanagar weather station recorded 122.8 mm between 8.30 am on Wednesday and 8.30 am on Thursday, which was 11 times the normal rainfall.

On an average, the national capital gauges 11.3 mm rainfall from 8.30 am on August 19 to 8.30 am on August 20 every year.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 54.8 mm rainfall.

The Palam, Lodhi Road and Ridge weather stations gauged 89.1 mm, 62.4 mm and 77.3 mm precipitation during the period.

Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm is moderate and above 64.5 mm is heavy.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD regional forecasting centre, said moderate rains will continue till Friday morning.

Thereafter, the intensity will decrease and the city will witness on and off light rains.

There was severe flooding in Gurgaon, where roads turned into small rivers and parks resembled swimming pools.

◗ WITH 2 more deaths, the toll in the Bihar flood climbed to 27 as 81.79 lakh people were affected in 16 districts