Heavy rains continued to batter normal life all across the country. As many as 537 people have lost their lives due to floods and rains in six States during the current monsoon season so far. As per the data of Home Ministry’s National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), 138 people have died in Maharashtra, 125 in Kerala, 116 in West Bengal, 70 in Uttar Pradesh, 52 in Gujarat and 34 in Assam due to the floods and rains. According to preliminary estimate, over 70,000 hectare crops have been damaged while 1.5-2 lakh animals have been affected till date.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 169 districts of the total 681 in India, have recorded excess rain. Of them, 32 districts received bountiful rain. The deluges and rains have hit 26 districts in Maharashtra, 22 in West Bengal, 21 in Assam, 14 in Kerala and 10 in Gujarat so far. The country, however, received 384.7 mm rainfall against the normal of 395.6 mm till July 26.
According to Home Ministry, in Assam, as many as 10.17 lakh people borne the brunt of rains and floods, of which 2.17 lakh were living in relief camps and over 1200 villages and thousands of animals are affected.
As per reports, over 5000 houses have been damaged. At least 12 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were engaged in rescue and relief operations in Assam. A team of the NDRF comprises 45 personnel.
In West Bengal, a total of 1.61 lakh people were affected by rains and floods in West Bengal and eight NDRF teams were deployed. There are reports that over 1300 villages in 17 districts which are affected due to rains are North 24 Parganas ,Birbhum, Paschim Burdwan, Purba Burdwan,Bankura, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Coochbehar, Birbhum, Hoogly, Kalimpong, Paschim Medinipur, South 24 Parganas, Purulia, Purba Medinipur and Uttar Dinajpur. More than 8,000 houses damaged and 47,680 hectares of crops are affected.
In Gujarat, 15,912 people were evacuated to safer locations after they were hit by floods and rains. 11 NDRF teams were positioned in the state.
In Kerala, the flood impacted 1.43 lakh people. The state registered 125 deaths due to heavy rains, while nine people are missing. As per reports, 2,195 villages are affected. As many as 8,000 houses damaged in the rain till date. There are reports that 5,486 animals are affected. As per report, due to rain, over seven kms district roads, 367.75 kms panchayat roads and 3,000 poles have been damaged.
In Uttar Pradesh, 70 people have died and 68 others injured in rain-related incidents since Thursday as heavy rains wreaked havoc in different parts of the State. As per report, 11 deaths have been reported in Saharanpur followed by 10 in Meerut, six in Agra, four in Mainpuri, three each in Muzaffarnagar and Kasganj, two each in Amroha, Bareilly, Baghpat and Bulandshahr and one each in Kanpur Dehat, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Rae Bareli, Jalaun, Jaunpur, Pratapgarh, Banda, Firozabad, Amethi, Kanpur and Pilibhit.
A total 138 people died and 119 injured in Maharashtra due to rains.
The State has received 27 per cent more rain this year recording 606.3 mm rainfall against the normal of 476.1 mm till date. According to IMD, Mumbai received 1577.3 mm rain; Palaghar 1994.4 mm; Raigarh 2259.6 mm; Ratnagiri 2436.8 mm; Sindhudurg 2327.1 mm; suburban Mumbai 1927.8 mm and Thane 2017.8 mm.
Four NDRF teams were deployed for rescue and relief operations in the southern State, while three were stationed in Maharashtra, which was battered by heavy rains.