Rains batter Mumbai, Kolkata; 3 dead in Gujarat

Torrential rains swept parts of the country, claiming three lives and triggering fears of floods in Gujarat even as the situation in deluge-ravaged Assam improved marginally.
Heavy showers pounded parts of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, and affected normal life in the metro cities of Kolkata and Mumbai.
The weatherman has warned of "extremely heavy rains" at a few p
laces in southern Rajasthan and Gujarat tomorrow.
Heavy to very heavy rains are predicted at some places in Gangetic West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Odisha, Jharkhand, west Madhya Pradesh and coastal Karnataka.
Downpours in Surendranagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Amreli, Junagadh, Gir Somnath districts of Gujarat claimed three lives and led to a flood-like situation in the region. The Chotila area in Surendranagar district gauged a massive 350 mm of rains, the state government said.

Heavy rains also pounded Ahmedabad which received over 100 mm of precipitation since last night.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Air Force and other agencies have so far rescued 214 stranded people. Over 6,200 people in the region have been shifted to safer places.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a meeting with officials at the state disaster control room in Gandhinagar to take stock of the situation and the rescue operation.
Ten state highways and 65 roads have been damaged due to rains. The Rajkot-Ahmedabad national highway is also closed due to water-logging.
One more death was reported from Morigaon district of Assam even as the overall flood situation improved in the state.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's floods has gone up to 76, including eight in Guwahati.
Nearly 90,000 people are bearing the brunt of the floods in 11 districts of the state, according to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
The worst affected is Golaghat, where over 31,000 people have been hit by the deluge. 17,000 have been marooned in Barpeta.
Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and nearby areas in the morning, slowing down the road traffic during rush hours.
Till 8.30 am, the weather station at Colaba recorded 80.2 mm of rainfall while the Santacruz observatory gauged 86.5 mm of precipitation.

Sharp showers battered southern and western districts of West Bengal, inundating several rivers, but the authorities ruled out any immediate flood threat.
Heavy rains were reported from Howrah, Hooghly, West and East Midnapur, and parts of Birbhum, Purulia, Bankura and Kolkata, officials said.
WB Irrigation Minister Rajib Banerjee told PTI that two control rooms have been set up to monitor the situation in the districts.
The East Midnapur district administration has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea.
The desert state of Rajasthan also recorded heavy rains.
Barmer received 55.6 mm of rainfall, Sawaimadhopur 51.3 mm, Vanasthali 47.6 mm, Mount Abu 28 mm, Jodhpur 19.8 mm, Jaipur 14.2 mm and Ajmer 12.1 mm.

The state has recorded 190.89 mm of rainfall from June 1 to July 21 -- which is about 10 mm more than the average precipitation.
According to the water resources department, no district in the state is under the scanty rainfall category.
Scattered rains in parts of the national capital led to an increase in humidity levels.