Rains cause havoc, more than 70 dead in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh

At least 70 people have died in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh with nearly 60 perishing in the eastern state alone in lightning strikes and other rain- related incidents in the past two days even as heavy rains continued to lash parts of the country on Wednesday.

Figures stated by NDTV claim that 93 have died in Bihar due to lightning in overnight storm, while BBC pegs the number at 79. 

Thunderstorms accompanied by heavy rains lashed Bihar since Tuesday killing 57 people, while 24 others sustained injuries, Principal Secretary (state Disaster Management) Vyasji said. While six persons were killed in various parts of Patna district, five others died in Buxar district, he said.

Nalanda, Bhojpur, Rohtas, Kaimur, Aurangabad, Purnea registered four deaths each, while Katihar, Saharsa and Saran districts recorded three fatalities each, Vyasji said. Bhagalpur, Munger, Samastipur districts recorded two deaths each, while Banka, Madhepura, Muzaffarpur and West Champaran districts registered one death each, he said, adding three more deaths were reported from other areas.

In addition, 24 people sustained injuries in lightning in various districts, he said, adding that 13 cattle also perished.

Many parts of Bihar on Wednesday also received rains, which brought down temperatures, providing relief to people from sultry weather.

Patna received 21.2 mm of rainfall, while Gaya registered 62.8 mm of rain. Bhagalpur and Purnea received 88 mm and 97.2 mm of rainfall respectively, the state MeT office said.

In Uttar Pradesh, 13 people, including nine minors, have been killed in rain-related incidents in the past two days as many parts of the state received heavy rainfall. 

Situation in other parts of the country

Light scattered rains hit the national capital in the evening with mercury settling at 37.5 degrees Celsius even as humidity level shot up making life tough for Delhiites. Heavy rains lashed parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal as the Met department forecast more downpour in the region, while some areas of Gangetic West Bengal received one or two spells
of rain.

Cooch Behar received the highest rainfall of 165 mm since Tuesday, the MeT department said. While neighbouring Jalpaiguri district received 20.8 mm rainfall, the hilltown of Darjeeling received 7.2 mm rain. Odisha too received rainfall in some parts, from 1 cm in Balasore to 4 cm in Akhuapada. Maxium temperature in the state was recorded at Bhawanipatna at 39.2 degrees Celsius.

Sambalpur and Bolangir posted 39 degrees each while Jhasrsuguda, Bhubaneswar and Baasore recorded 38.5, 35.6 and 34.5 degrees Celsius respectively. In Rajasthan, parts of the state received heavy rainfall even as the mercury shot up to 43 degrees Celsius in Jaismaler. Barmer recorded 42.8 while Bikaner and Churu 42.5 each and Jodhpur 40 degrees Celsius respectively.