Several parts of north India received light showers on Monday, while the flood situation in Punjab is likely to improve as the release of excess water from the Bhakra dam has been reduced following a request from the state government.
The weather in the national capital was sultry as the maximum temperature settled two notches above normal at 35.5 degrees Celsius.
The Safdarjung observatory received 2.8 mm rainfall while the Ridge area recorded 5.2 mm rainfall. The Palam observatory, Lodhi Road and Aya Nagar observatories recorded nil rainfall on Monday.
The weatherman has forecast heavy rain for Tuesday and the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 36 and 26 degrees Celsius respectively.
In Punjab, following heavy rains and release of water from the Bhakra Dam, the swollen river Sutlej and its tributaries flooded villages in several areas, causing extensive damage to crops, especially paddy, and houses in low-lying areas.
The situation, however, is likely to improve as the release of excess water through spillway gates from the Bhakra dam has been reduced to about 8,000 cusecs following a request from Punjab government, an official said on Monday.
More From This Section
"Release of water (through spillway gates) has been reduced from 18,500 cusecs to 8,000 cusecs," said an official of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) which manages Bhakra and Pong dams.
The decision to reduce the discharge of water was taken after the representative of Punjab government requested the BBMB authorities to do so as "problems" were being faced in the plugging breaches of embankment of Sutlej river in some areas, official further said.
The Punjab government has also asked authorities in deluge-hit districts to hire counsellors to prevent acute stress-related "psychological" issues among affected people.
The suggestion came as a part of a post-flood action plan which was issued to the district administrations of Jalandhar, Kaputhhala, Rupnagar, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Fazilka and Moga.
Among other things, the guidelines states that economic, physical and mental wellbeing of the affected people should be taken care of.
Over 8,000 poultry birds and 120 bovines have been reported dead in the Punjab floods. The total value of the livestock loss has been pegged at Rs 91 lakh.
Parts of Uttar Pradesh received light rain while the capital Lucknow witnessed a partly cloudy sky on Monday and the maximum temperature rose to 34.3 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal.
According to the meteorological department, rainfall was recorded in Varanasi (4 mm), Kanpur (1.2 mm) and Orai (7 mm).
Ballia was the hottest place in the state, where maximum temperature settled at 36 degrees Celsius.
The meteorological department also informed that rain/thunder showers are very likely to occur at a few places over eastern Uttar Pradesh on August 27, 28 and 29.
Thunder showers are very likely to occur at a few places over western Uttar Pradesh on August 27 and 28 and at isolated places over western Uttar Pradesh on August 29, the official said.
Most parts of Himachal Pradesh received light to moderate rainfall on Monday, the Met office said, adding that scattered downpour is expected to continue in the hill-state till September 1.
Several places including the capital Shimla along with Kufri, Dalhousie, Palampur, Dharamshala and Manali received light to moderate rain since Sunday evening, Shimla Met Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.
The highest temperature in the state was recorded in Bilaspur at 34.5 degrees Celsius, whereas the tribal district Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong recorded the lowest temperature at 11.3 degrees Celsius, he added.
Several parts of Rajasthan recorded 2 to 9 cm rainfall in the last 24 hours, a Met official said on Monday.
He said from Sunday to Monday morning, Aklera of Jhalawar recorded 9 cm rain, followed by Bhinay of Ajmer (8 cm) and Nasirabad (7 cm).
During the same period, Dag and Khanpur in Jhalawar district and Girva in Udaipur each received 6 cm rainfall, the meteorological department official said.
He said several other places in the state recorded 2 to 5 cm rainfall during the period.
Till Monday evening, Bikaner recorded 2.17 cm rainfall, the MeT official said, adding Dabok and Ajmer recorded 0.6 cm and 0.2 cm rainfall respectively.
He said with 41 degrees Celsius, Jaisalmer recorded the highest maximum temperature in the state.
The Met official said the maximum temperature in Barmer was 38.3 degrees Celsius, followed by 37.2 degrees Celsius in Bikaner, 37 degrees Celsius in Sri Ganganagar and 32.4 degrees Celsius in Jaipur.
The weatherman has forecast heavy rainfall at isolated places in east Rajasthan during next 24 hours.
On Tuesday, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Gujarat while heavy rainfall is expected to lash west Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, coastal and south interior Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, the India Meteorological Department said.