Lightning kills 43 people in UP, Bihar; rains lash several parts of country

At least 43 people were killed after being struck by lightning in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as rains and thunderstorm occurred in several parts of the country on Saturday, officials said.

Instances of wall collapse, uprooting of trees and waterlogging were reported in Maharashtra as heavy rains lashed large parts of the western state, including Mumbai, for the second day on Saturday. However, there were no casualties.

North India witnessed predominantly sultry weather, with Punjab and Haryana recording above-normal day temperatures.

In the national capital, the mercury oscillated between 37 and 40 degrees Celsius in most parts of the city.

Light rains and cloudy skies over the next three-four days are expected to keep the mercury in check in the national capital, Meteorological department officials said.

Rainfall was recorded at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh, where at least 23 people were killed and 29 others injured after being struck by lightning.

According to an official statement, eight people lost their livesin Allahabad, six in Mirzapur, two in Kaushambi and one in Jaunpur.

A report from Bhadohi said six people were killed and at least six others injured in different parts of the district.

In Bihar, 20 people were killed after being struck by lightning in five districts on Saturday, officials said.

Nine casualties were reported from Bhojpur, five from Saran, three from Kaimur, two from Patna and one death was reported in Buxar, the state disaster management department said.

Mumbai suburbs and neighbouring Thane have received more than 100 mm rainfall since Saturday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Interior Maharashtra also received fairly widespread rainfall, it said.

The Colaba weather station in south Mumbai recorded 66 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, while the Santacruz station recorded 111.4 mm rainfall, according to the IMD.

The Thane-Belapur Industry Association area reported 116 mm rain during this period, it said.

"Mumbai suburbs and Thane (have) already received more than 100 mm rains since morning 8.30 am 4 Jul. City side it's around 50+ mm," Mumbai IMD Deputy Director General K S Hosalikar tweeted.

"Very heavy with isolated extremely heavy rainfall (>200 mm) forecasted for N Konkan including Mumbai in 24 hrs. Entire west coast very active monsoon. TC," he said.

The Alibaug observatory in neighbouring Raigad district recorded 87.4 mm rainfall from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on Saturday. Harnai in coastal Ratnagiri district, south of Raigad, recorded 52.6 mm rainfall during the period, while the Ratnagiri city weather station recorded 54.1 mm of rainfall.

The disaster management cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said waterlogging was reported in low-lying areas of the city such as Sion, Dadar and Milan Subway.

"But there has been no complaint of major waterlogging so far," an official said.

"There were 19 complaints of tree or branches falling, but nobody was injured in the incidents," he said.

In Thane, two incidents of wall collapse were reported, civic authorities said.

No casualties were reported in both these incidents, an official said.

A 12 feet wall collapsed near Khetale Garden in Hajuri area due to heavy downpour in the morning hours, while a six feet wall in Azad Nagar also came crashing down, said Santosh Kadam, chief of the civic disaster management cell.

In another incident, a portion of the first floor of a building in the city collapsed due to heavy rains. The rest of the structure was also weak, the official said.

There were no casualties in the incident, he said.

Late on Friday, the IMD had issued a red alert for Mumbai, Raigad and Ratnagiri for Saturday. It had predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at many places in Palghar, Mumbai, Thane and Raigad districts.

On July 1, the weather department had forecast fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity with isolated heavy to very heavy falls very likely along the west coast, Gujarat and Maharashtra till Sunday.

Hot weather conditions persisted in neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab.

In Haryana, Narnaul recorded a maximum temperature of 41.2 degrees Celsius, the Meteorological Department said. In Hisar, the mercury settled at 41 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.

Ambala recorded a high of 35.6 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal, while the maximum temperature in Karnal was 35 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 37.7 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.

The day temperature in Ludhiana was 36.7 degrees Celsius, also two notches above normal.

The maximum temperature in Patiala was 36.5 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of Haryana and Punjab, recorded a high of 35.3 degrees Celsius.

In Uttar Pradesh, Agra was the hottest place as it recorded a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said. State capital Lucknow recorded a maximum temperature of 35.4 degrees Celsius, and a minimum of 28.2 degrees Celsius, it said.

Some parts of the state received rainfall.

Gorakhpur recorded the maximum rainfall at 34.1 mm, followed by 30.2 mm in Jhansi, 19.4 mm in Churk in Sonbhadra district, and 3 mm in Sultanpur, the weather department said.