Heavy rains worsened the flood situation in Assam on Saturday, with the death toll rising to seven, while northern parts of the country received light to moderate showers.
The rains, however, eluded the national capital. The city continued to reel under hot weather conditions, with the maximum temperature settling at 39.6 degrees Celsius -- four notches above the season's average.
The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy skies with possibility of thundery developments towards afternoon or evening on Sunday. There will be dust raising winds during the day.
Relief from the heat is likely on July 16 as rains are expected on that evening, a Meteorological Department official said.
The situation in Assam remained grim as the floods claimed another life, taking the death toll to seven.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person was killed in Sissiborgaon area of Dhemaji district.
The deluge has affected over 14 lakh people across 25 districts of the state, including Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Barpeta, Morigaon, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Goalpara, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, the ASDMA said.
Barpeta is the worst hit with 5.22 lakh people affected, followed by 1.38 lakh in Dhemaji and 95,000 in Morigaon, it said.
Currently, the Brahmaputra at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, while the Barak at AP Ghat in Cachar and Badarpurghat in Karimganj are flowing above the danger mark.
The ASDMA report said 2,168 villages are under water and 51,752 hectares of crop area has been damaged.
There has been massive erosion at several places in Chirang, Barpeta, Sonitpur and Bongaigaon districts, it said.
The National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force have rescued 848 persons in the last 24 hours across the state, the ASDMA report said.
As much as 4,476.74 quintals of rice, dal, salt and 7,907.11 litres of mustard oil have been distributed, along with tarpaulin, water pouches and other essential items, it said.
Authorities are running 234 relief camps and distribution centres in 21 districts, where 20,047 people have sought refuge, it said.
Meanwhile, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh received light to moderate rains, bringing down the mercury by a few notches.
Himachal Pradesh's Sarahan received the maximum rainfall of 131 mm, followed by 82 mm in Naina Devi, 71 mm in Bilaspur, 47 mm in Una, and 46 mm each in Shimla and Kangra, the MeT department said.
Kufri recorded 44 mm of rainfall, while Kasauli, Manali and Dalhousie received 13, 3 and 1 mm, respectively, it said.
The weatherman has issued a 'yellow' weather warning for heavy rains in the state from Sunday to Tuesday.
The weather office issues colour-coded warnings to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather that has the potential to cause "damage, widespread disruption or danger to life".
Yellow, the least dangerous of all the warnings, indicates the possibility of severe weather.
Rains in parts of Punjab and Haryana brought relief for residents from hot weather conditions as the maximum temperatures plummeted three notches below normal.
Amritsar received 28.2 mm of rains, followed by 14 mm in Ludhiana, 12 mm in Ambala and 10 mm in Patiala, the Met department said.
The mercury settled at 39 degrees Celsius in Hisar in Haryana, two notches above normal. Narnaul recorded a high of 38.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, also received 23 mm rainfall.
The maximum temperatures in the region oscillated between three notches below normal to two notches above normal, the weather department said.
The weatherman has predicted light to moderate rains at many places in the region during the next 24 hours.
Southwest monsoon remained normal over Uttar Pradesh which resulted in light to moderate rains at few places, heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in eastern parts of the state and light to moderate rains at isolated places in western parts, the MeT department said.
Birdghat in Gorakhpur district recorded 17 cm rainfall, followed by Ballia (16 cm), Chandradeep Ghat in Gonda (15 cm), Domariaganj in Siddharthnagar district (14 cm), Bansgaon in Gorakhpur district (13 cm), Gorakhpur (12 cm) and Ghoshi in Mau district (10 cm), it said.
Mukhlishpur (Azamgarh), Regoli, Khalilabad (Sant Kabir Nagar), Bhinga (Shravasti), Basti, Muhammadabad received 9 cm rainfall each and Gaighat (Ghazipur) 8 cm, Bani (Lucknow), Maharajganj and Akbarpur (Ambedkar Nagar) received 7 cm each, it added.
A Central Water Commission report said Ganga at Kachlabridge, river Sharda at Palia Kalan and Sharda Nagar and river Ghaghra at Elgin Bridge, Ayodhya and Turtipar and Rapti at Balrampur are flowing at dangerous levels.
Aligarh was the hottest place in the state with a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature was below normal in Gorakhpur, Faizabad, Bareilly and Moradabad divisions.
The MeT department has predicted rain and thunderstorm at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
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