Monsoon reaches Uttar Pradesh, North India hopeful, Mumbai waterlogged

Lucknow: There was some hope of rains in North India as the monsoon finally hit Uttar Pradesh early on Thursday. Heavy rainfall was reported from the cities of Lucknow and Jhansi and the districts of Barabanki, Unnao and Faizabad.

However, there is no rain yet in the rest of North India. India's largest dam, the Bhakra Nangal, has reached a critical level and there is a similar situation at seven reservoirs in the North. This has worsened the power situation further with major outages across Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi.

The Bhakra Beas Management Board will hold an emergency meeting with partnering states including Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Sources say the water inflow at Bhakra Dam mainly depends on the melting of snow and this year, the required amount has not melted.

UP gets rain, North hopeful, Mumbai waterlogged

Heavy rainfall was reported from Lucknow and Jhansi and the districts of Barabanki, Unnao and Faizabad.

Also, the lack of rains in the Dam's catchment area has led to a further decrease in the water level. "If the rains do not come, the situation will worsen as we cannot increase the supply overnight. We have less fuel, less coal," said Ashok Khurana, Director General, Association of Power Producers. Remember, a 31 percent deficit in rainfall was reported for the month of June.

Meanwhile, Mumbai residents woke up to the second consecutive day of intermittent heavy rains on Thursday. The temperature has dipped to a cool 26 degrees Celsius. The suburbs in particular received heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours with Bandra receiving 117 mm and Vikhroli 103 mm. Dharavi, Dadar and Kurla have each received more than 90 mm of rainfall.

Constant pouring has also led to waterlogging in several areas like Sion, Dadar, Hindmata, Vakola and Parel. Trains on the western line were running between 10 and 15 minutes late.

Monsoon rains have been 30 per cent deficient so far and the weather office data showed 82 per cent of the area of the country, including the granary states of Punjab and Haryana, are receiving deficient or scanty rainfall.

(With additional information from PTI)