The Hindu : National : Monsoon hits North India

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Monday, Jul 10, 2006

National

National

Monsoon hits North India

26 people killed in house collapse incidents in Uttar Pradesh

Photo: PTI

DELUGE: People wade through knee-deep water after a spell of heavy rain in Amritsar on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: The monsoon on Sunday hit north India bringing mixed tidings of relief from the prolonged spell of heat but killing 26 people in house collapse incidents in Uttar Pradesh and spawning flood threats in two districts of Himachal Pradesh.

``South-west monsoon is covering entire H.P. and advanced further into most of western U.P., parts of Haryana and Delhi while its northern limit is through Udaipur, Gwalior, Agra, Delhi, Ambala and Amritsar,'' a met official said.

Sutlej, Spiti and Baspa rivers and their tributaries were in spate due to which alerts were sounded in Kinnaur and Rampur districts of H.P.

Cloudbursts over Kinnaur and Shimla districts caused flash floods in sparsely populated areas and there was no loss of life or property but a number of tourists were reported stranded after Karchham-Sangla road breached at two places due to landslides.

In U.P. showers continued to lash Varanasi and adjoining districts for the second day on Sunday, while major rivers including Ganga, Gomti and Yamuna were on the rise in the same regions.

Central Water Commission office said here a maximum of 35 cm rainfall was recorded this morning at Jaunpur, Mirzapur 22,cm Faphamau (Allahabad) 17 cm, Sultanpur 15 cm and Varanasi 5 cm.

Meanwhile, major rivers in the region including Ganga, Gomti and Yamuna continued to swell.

The Ganga was rising at five places including Phaphamau, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Ghazipur, while Gomti river was in spate at Jaunpur. Yamuna too was rising in Naini (Allahabad).

Wall collapses, electrocution and lightning had so far killed at least 26 people, including six women in the last 24 hours in the State.

Downpours in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana flooded many low-lying areas, uprooted tree branches at several places but also brought down the mercury considerably.

Ambala, Karnal, Morni, Panchkula and Kalka in Haryana received showers while dark monsoon clouds hovered over Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Moga and Patiala in Punjab. Dehradun and many other places in Uttaranchal recieved the heaviest rains of the season as the monsoon came to life with full gusto. Low-lying areas were inundated by rainwater and rivulets inundated and Dehradun recorded 60 mm rainfall, a met official said.

Power supply was also disrupted as several trees and electric poles were brought down by wind-swept rains.

Heavy rains also lashed Uttarkashi, Chamoli and other parts of Garhwal, with Hardwar recieving 70 mm rainfall, and Nainital, Pithorargh, Pantnagar and Mukteshwar area of Kumaon. - PTI UNI.

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