3 die as heavy rain with wind lashes Jharkhand; effects normal life

3 persons died in Jharkhand as heavy rain along with high-speed wind lashed several districts of the state, inundating low-lying areas and uprooting scores of trees and electricity poles

Three persons died on Saturday in Jharkhand as heavy rain along with high-speed wind lashed several districts of the state, inundating low-lying areas and uprooting scores of trees and electricity poles, officials said.

A woman died when a mud wall of her house collapsed in West Singhbhum district as a deep depression that crossed Odisha coast on Friday evening brought incessant rainfall in several areas, they said.

Two persons drowned during the day in Ramgarh district and two more went missing as their car and motorcycles fell into the swollen Nalkari river and were swept away by the strong current, the officials said.

The 50-year-old woman died when the wall of her house collapsed on her in Chaibasa area, Mufassil Police Station in charge Pawan Chandra Pathak said.

Two bodies were fished out from the Nalkari river, Patratu sub-divisional police officer Birendra Kumar Chaudhary said, adding that a rescue operation is on to find out the missing persons.

"A car was on its way to Patratu in Ramgarh district from Ranchi fell into the swollen river while crossing a bridge near Taltand village under the Patratu block, some 25 km from Ramgarh district headquarters.

"Later two motorcycles also fell into the river and were swept away by the strong current. In these incidents, two persons died and it is learnt that two more are still missing," he said.

The two deceased persons have been identified as Dr Xavier Tigga and Smriti Gari and both were from Ranchi, the SDPO said.

Normal life was thrown out of gear with rain disrupting the power supply in many areas for long hours and causing traffic jams in major cities.

Damage to properties due to the downpour along with high-speed wind was reported from Saraikela-Kharswan, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Ranchi.

In the past 24 hours ending at 2 pm on Saturday, Chaibasa town of West Singhbhum recorded the highest rainfall at 191.6 mm, followed by Ramgarh (142.2 mm), Jamshedpur (137.2mm), and Ranchi (54.2 mm).

Two flights have also been cancelled till 2 pm due to bad weather on Saturday, an official at Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi told PTI.

The water level of several rivers has either reached the danger mark or crossed it in the state's Kolhan region comprising West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, and East Singhbhum districts, another official said.

In East Singhbhum, heavy rain since Friday evening damaged many electric poles in Jamshedpur leading to power outages in several areas of the city.

"Teams are working for the restoration of power but the work has been hampered due to continuous rain," an official of the East Singhbhum district administration said.

East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Vijaya Jadav said the Kharkhai river is flowing above the danger level, while the Swarnarekha river is in spate.

People living in catchment areas of the Kharkhai and Swarnarekha rivers were asked to shift to safer places after the district administration sounded an alert in view of the increasing water level caused by incessant rain in Jamshedpur since Friday, an official said.

Several areas were inundated in Chaibasa, while the civil court premises in Saraikela were submerged.

In Jharkhand capital Ranchi, the rainfall accompanied by strong wind uprooted trees and electricity poles in over 25 areas, blocking traffic movement on major roads. Most places in the city were experiencing power cuts.

At least four members of Jharkhand Rajya Vidyalaya Rasoiya (Cook) Sangh, who were on an indefinite dharna near Raj Bhavan, were injured after a branch of a tree fell on them, the treasurer of the association Anita Devi claimed.

The deep depression was centred over south Jharkhand and adjoining north Odisha and West Bengal at 8.30 am on Saturday.

"It would continue to move west-northwestwards across Jharkhand and adjoining north Chhattisgarh towards north Madhya Pradesh during the next 24 hours and weaken gradually," Ranchi meteorological centre in-charge Abhishek Anand told PTI.

There is "no warning" of heavy to very heavy rainfall on Sunday as the intensity will decline, he said, adding that there is a possibility of light to moderate precipitation in parts of Jharkhand on August 22, he said.

The state's overall rainfall deficit has come down to 31 per cent from 38 per cent till Friday.

Jharkhand had received 494.3 mm of rainfall as against the normal rainfall of 711.7 mm from June 1 to August 20.