9 dead as rains batter Uttar Pradesh; schools shut down

Heavy rains battered Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, leaving at least nine people dead in rain-related incidents while the India Meteorological Department forecasts more rains to lash the northern state in the next 24 hours.

The IMD has issued an orange alert (heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning) for western Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

Schools for children up to Class 12 have been closed in the Uttar Pradesh districts of Lucknow, Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Agra in view of heavy rainfall forecast by the weather department for October 10, while classes will remain suspended in all schools of Aligarh district up to October 12.

IMD said that the district received an average of 22.5 mm rainfall on Sunday, which is 2396 per cent more than the ‘long period average’ for the day.

Delhi, which has been receiving heavy showers for the past three days reported incidents of water logging and traffic jams on Sunday.

The Gautam Nagar District Magistrate has ordered all schools across boards to shut down classes for Class 1 to 12 on Monday in view of the heavy rainfall forecast.

The incessant rains in the Delhi-NCR region has brought the temperature down by at least 10 degrees.

Besides Uttar Pradesh, rainfall is expected to continue in Uttarakhand, west Madhya Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan over the next two days.

The IMD has also forecast heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu till October 11. Rains are expected to lash Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Namakkal, Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Myladuthurai, Tirupattur, Ranipet, Vellore, Erorde, Namakkal, Karaikkal and Puducherry for the next few days.

Rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms has also been forecast for coastal Karnataka, while a yellow alert has been issued for north Karnataka districts of Bagalkot, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Vijayapura.

Light to moderate-intensity rain has been forecast in Amaravati for the next five days, while the IMD predicts isolated regions of Rayalseema to receive heavy rain for the next three days.