New Delhi: Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Odisha on Sunday, prompting authorities to issue a flood alert in all districts.
Special relief commissioner P.K. Mohapatra said the alert was issued as continuous rains were expected in the next four days.
Citing meteorological forecast, Mohapatra told IANS: “We have directed the administration to be in readiness to meet any eventuality.”
District emergency operation centres are to be activated across the state, he said.
Meanwhile, it was yet another wet day for most parts of north India, which received moderate to heavy rainfall on Saturday, much to the relief of farmers in the agrarian states who were awaiting the monsoon.
In the national capital, temperatures remained at a comfortable level although humidity was on the higher side.
According to the MeT department, the day temperature in Delhi settled at 33.6 Celsius, which was normal for this part of the year. However, it was substantially up from Friday’s 29.9 Celsius.
Humidity levels during the day were recorded between 61 and 90 per cent, which caused some discomfort.
A cloudy sky greeted Delhi residents in the morning with the minimum temperature settling at a comfortable 25.4 Celsius, one notch below normal and slightly up from the previous day’s reading of 24.6 Celsius.
About 2.5mm of rainfall has been recorded during the last 24 hours till 8.30am, a Met official said.
With the wet weather continuing in Uttarakhand and roads to Himalayan shrines blocked by debris from landslips at several points, the annual Chardham Yatra remained suspended for a fourth consecutive day.
The yatra had been suspended only until Friday but later the administration issued an advisory to districts on the route not to resume the pilgrimage.
“We have kept the yatra to Gangotri and Yamunotri suspended for Saturday complying with the administrative advisory in the light of MeT department warning. It may be resumed [on] Sunday but that too depends on weather in the higher reaches and the condition of roads which are blocked at several places at present,” Uttarkashi DM Ravishankar said.
Punjab and Haryana, which received the first monsoon rains of the season on Friday, continued to receive moderate to heavy rainfall at most places.
The spell of rain brought cheer to farmers as it is good for the paddy crop that is widely grown in the two agrarian states besides improving the power and water situation.
The weather was similar in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which received moderate to heavy rains at most places.
South-west monsoon remained normal in east UP and was active in the western part of the state. Dhampur received the highest rainfall at 22cm, followed by Nagina 20cm, Biswan, Allahabad 10cm each, Purwa 9cm, Mawana 8cm, Ballia, Meerut 7cm each, Nazibabad, Lucknow 6cm each, Kanpur and Deoband 5cm each, the Met officials said.
In Rajathan, maximum rainfall was recorded in Shahabad in Bara district at 12cm, followed by Barmer district 10cm. There were a number of places in the state where rainfall was below 9cm.
