Weather forecast live updates: Flood alert in 16 UP districts as rivers swell

Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain would occur over Khurja, Kasganj, Nazibabad, Sikander Rao, Jalesar, Tundla, Etah during the next 2 hours.

Sixteen districts in Uttar Pradesh have been put on high alert for floods in the coming days. The districts include Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Maharajganj, Deoria, Basti, Kushinagar, Siddhartha Nagar, Gorakhpur, Gonda, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ballia, Barabanki, Sitapur and Mau. Relief commissioner Ranvir Prasad has issued a notice to administrations of these districts, warning of the possibility of flood in the coming days. The affected districts are on the banks of the river like Rohini, Sharda, Ghagra and Rapti that have been on the rise due to incessant rains in the catchment areas in Nepal and UP. (IANS)

Many places in the state are likely to witness light to moderate rainfall for three days, starting Tuesday, said the latest forecast from IMD on Saturday. H R Biswas, director of regional IMD centre, said there are chances of thunderstorm activities and lightning at isolated places in some districts on Monday, even as rainfall possibility would decrease over the next two days. READ FULL STORY HERE

Thousands of residents in Behala, Kidderpore and Ekbalpore have been stuck indoors for over 72 hours, but the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) top brass had no hope to offer them even on Saturday. In fact, a sewerage and drainage department official made it clear even moderate rain on Sunday or Monday could spell more misery for locals in inundated areas. An abnormal delay in implementation of a drainage development project under Kolkata Environment & Infrastructure Improvement Project (KEIIP) scheme and clogged Manikhali and Churial canals, two outfall channels that carry storm water away from Behala neighbourhoods, were the primary reasons for the inundation. But locals are not willing to buy the KMC’s logic. Payel Kar, a Class XII student from Behala Rabindranagar who has an ailing parent at home, said, “We have no power or drinking water for four days now. After neighbours protested against waterlogging and power cuts, the power supply was restored for just an hour. How will we survive?” READ FULL STORY

The minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 25.2 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season's average, as light rain occurred in parts of the city on Sunday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said. According to officials, the maximum temperature is likely to settle around 37 degrees Celsius. The IMD has predicted generally cloudy sky with light rain during the day.

With rain continuing for the past three days, fears of a flood-like situation in south Bengal increased as rivers rose and DVC dams released water. DVC’s chief engineer Satyabrata Banerjee said the Bengal government had asked that not more than 40,000 cusecs of water be released. So 24,000 cusecs were released from Maithon Dam and 14,000 cusecs from Panchet dam. From Sikatia barrage, 18,000 cusecs of water were released. Durgapur barrage was discharging around 50,000 cusecs at 2pm. The move by DVC caused panic in Udaynaryanur and Amta areas, as the water level in the Damodar, Mudeswari and Rupnarayan rivers got higher. Howrah DM Mukta Arya on Saturday held a meeting at Udaynarayanpur, where Howrah Rural SP Soumya Roy was also present, in which officials discussed how to tackle the situation. The DM told engineers to increase the embankment height with sandbags and asked for 12 flood centres to be kept ready.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday announced that the southwest monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of Gujarat and covered the entire state along with north Arabian Sea and some parts of Rajasthan. Multiple systems over the state are giving rainfall to various parts, mentioned the IMD forecast, predicting good rainfall across the state for next two days. READ FULL STORY

This has been an unusually wet June for Kolkata and south Bengal so far with rain far exceeding normal. According to the Met office, Kolkata received 108% excess rain so far this month while south Bengal received 106% more than normal. The state received 51% excess rain during the month so far. Saturday’s maximum temperature, at 25.9°C, was about a degree lower than the minimum temperature, which was 26.1°C.