Heavy Rains, Thundershower Hit Parts of Delhi, UP; Death Toll in Uttarakhand's Cloudburst Rises to 5

A fresh spell of heavy rains on Tuesday lashed most parts of north India including parts of the national capital and neighbouring states, inundating low-lying areas and affecting movement of traffic.

Light to moderate rain accompanied with thunder occurred at most places in Uttar Pradesh since Monday with Maharajganj recording a maximum of 12 cm rainfall, the meteorological office said on Tuesday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted isolated heavy to very heavy rains in Delhi and neighbouring areas on Tuesday and Wednesday. "The rainfall intensity and distribution are very likely to decrease significantly thereafter," it had said.

The convergence of moist easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal and southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea is likely to continue over northwest India for another two-three days, weather experts said.

The monsoon trough is also running through the region. These two factors together led to moderate to heavy rains in Delhi-NCR, they said.

The weatherman has also forecast rain and thundershower at most places in eastern Uttar Pradesh and at some places in western parts of the state.

On Sunday, at least four people died as heavy rains lashed the city, inundating low-lying areas and bringing traffic to a standstill at key stretches.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the cloudburst that hit two adjacent villages in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district rose to five on Tuesday with the recovery of two more bodies, officials said.

A family of three was killed and six others were injured as the cloudburst hit adjacent villages of Gaila Pattharkot and Tanga under the Bangapani sub-division in the early hours of Monday.

Rescue teams pulled out two bodies from tonnes of rubble in Tanga where 11 people had gone missing, said Pithoragarh District Magistrate V K Jogdande, who was at the spot.

The bodies are being sent for post-mortem and search for nine more people is still on, he said.

Rescue operations in the area are being conducted by 10 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and 20 revenue police personnel, the DM said, adding two medical teams are also at their disposal.

On Monday, one person was rescued in Tanga and he told authorities that 11 others were washed away in a swollen rivulet.

(With inputs from PTI)