Monsoon rains bring agony to many states

NEW DELHI: Several states experienced heavy monsoon rains on Sunday even as the situation took a frightening shape in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh where floods and landslides wreaked havoc and claimed several lives.
 
Southwest monsoon drenched the national capital with the first showers of the season, thus breaking an 108-year-old record by arriving nearly two weeks ahead of the normal onset date of June 29.
 
Heavy rains, accompanied by lightning in some areas, lashed several places, forcing many people to the safe confines of their homes on Sunday.
 
Southwest monsoon advanced into remaining parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, some more parts of Rajasthan and Haryana. Monsoon, which has been advancing rapidly, has covered the entire country barring some parts of Rajasthan.
 
In Uttar Pradesh, six persons were killed in separate incidents of lightning as heavy rains lashed the state capital on Sunday. While two persons died in Govindpur area of Sonbhadra, a teenager was killed in Ballia, two in Deoria and one in Gonda district on Saturday.
 
Five persons were washed away on Sunday in the flood-hit district of Lakhimpur in Assam, where over five lakh people have been affected. A red alert has been sounded and the army asked to stay as standby to assist the civil administration.
 
In Arunachal Pradesh, three more persons died in landslides in capital Itanagar today, taking the toll up to 17.
 
Two children were washed away in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand with heavy rains lashing the hills.