Rain fury continued in several parts of the country with 12 more deaths reported today even as the flood situation remained grim in Assam though it improved slightly in Odisha.
The national capital had a sunny day with the maximum temperature rising to 37 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average, but high humidity caused discomfort.
Four rain-related deaths were reported in Assam, three in Gujarat, two each in Odisha and Rajasthan and one death in Himachal Pradesh. Two persons are also feared dead in Jammu and Kashmir.
In Odisha, the flood situation improved slightly in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts even as the state government pressed into service a Coast Guard aircraft to assess the situation in two villages of Niyamgiri hills which were cut off due to flash flood caused by incessant rains.
Two deaths were today reported in Malkangiri district while the state government sounded an alert in 12 districts in view of the likelihood of heavy rainfall due to depression.
Special Relief Commissioner B P Sethi said at least 4,000 indigenous Dongria Kondh people residing in the villages of Niyamgiri hills were marooned as a bridge over Kalyani river was washed away due to the floods.
Around 2,000 people of other communities also live on the other side of the river and all of them are inaccessible, he said.
Over 56,000 people in 202 villages of the two districts have been affected in the floods.
Heavy rains lashed Surat, Valsad and Navsari districts in southern Gujarat while other parts of the state also received moderate rainfall since yesterday, officials said.
Fourteen people have been killed in rain-related incidents within a week in the state.
During the day (8 am to 4 pm), Choryasi taluka of Surat district received maximum rainfall of 201 mm, followed by Chikhli in Navsari (131 mm), Jalalpore in Navsari (105 mm), Navsari taluka (103 mm), Palsana (99 mm), Mandvi (96 mm) and Bardoli (92 mm) (last three places in Surat district).
In Assam, the death toll in the floods climbed to 69 as four more deaths were reportedy, while nearly nine lakh people remained affected in 16 districts.
The worst hit district is South Salmara where 1,25,040 people are affected, while in Morigaon district nearly one lakh people are facing the flood fury, the ASDMA report said.
The water in the Brahmaputra and the Barak rivers, and their tributaries, have been showing a receding trend at several places in the state with cessation of rainfall.
But the Brahmputra is still flowing above the danger level at Dhubri, Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, and the Barak at Badarpurghat in Karimganj, and Kushiara river at Karimganj.
In Himachal Pradesh, a five-month old child died in a landslide as heavy rains wreaked havoc in the state, disrupting normal life in many parts of it and severing road links in Kangra district.
The baby was buried alive when a landslide destroyed a house in Chirgaon area of Rohru in Shimla district today while Kangra, Dharamshala and Palampur received heavy rainfall leading to flooding of roads and houses.
All the rivers and their tributaries are in spate while nullahs are overflowing in several parts of Kangra district. Dharamshala-McLeod Ganj road was blocked due to massive landslide. Link roads were also affected at most places in interior areas of Kangra.
Palampur which received 192 mm of rains in the past 24 hours was wettest in the region followed by Jogindernagar 160 mm, Banjar 145 mm, Kheri 140 mm, Nagrotasurian 132 mm, Dharamshala 125 mm, Baijnath 122, Hamirpur 78 mm and Gaggal 69 mm.
Rains continued to lash Mumbai metropolitan region for the fourth day.
"The Santacruz station of Mumbai IMD recorded 163 mm of rainfall, while Colaba registered 107 mm of showers in last 24-hours," IMD-Mumbai, director, Sunil Kamble told PTI.
"The coastal Konkan region is having more showers in last four days as well. Compared to it, the rainfall in central parts of Maharashtra is still on lower side," said Kamble.
In Bihar, the south west monsoon has weakened in the state in the past few days.
"A system is developing and people of Bihar may expect a good rainfall from coming Friday evening or from Saturday," Patna Meteorological Centre senior scientist Anand Shankar said.
The absence of rains has increased the maximum temperature to around 37 degrees Celsius in major cities of the state.
State capital Patna, which had witnessed rainfall on July 14, recorded the highest maximum temperature at 37.4 degrees Celsius.
In Rajasthan, two girls were swept away in an overflowing nullah filled with rainwater in Rajasthan's Sirohi district.
Irana (6) and Sapna (8) were crossing the nullah and slipped into it while they were returning home. The bodies were fished out a few metres away from the spot.
Meanwhile, various places across the state recorded 1 to 3 cm rainfall in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, two persons, including a girl, were washed away in flash floods in the Udhampur district.
Rekha Devi (19), a class 12 student, and Mohammad Sarif (35) were swept away in Pachond nallah in Latti tehsil when they were crossing the nallah this morning, police officials said, adding both are still untraced.
In Telangana, normal life was affected as heavy rains continued to lash Hyderabad, which received 60.2 mm rainfall, and other parts of Telangana for the second day today.
Madhira in Khammam district received nine cms of rainfall, followed by Hayatnagar (7 cms) in Rangareddy district, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Several rivulets and other water bodies were in spate at different places in the state.
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