Hard rain in Mumbai, hardly any in Delhi

New Delhi: Torrential overnight rains threw life out of gear in Maharashtra and Karnataka while North India is still reeling under a dry spell.

Several low-lying areas of the city were waterlogged and traffic jams were witnessed across Mumbai. A flood alert has been sounded in Hogenakkal area in Karnataka by the district administration following release of surplus water to the Cauvery river from dams.

Meanwhile, in view of a deficient monsoon, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday reviewed the crop situation in the country and directed officials to have contingency plans in place.

Singh chaired a meeting to review the monsoon situation with top officials of the India Meteorological Department and the Agriculture Ministry before leaving for a five-day visit to France and Egypt.

The country as a whole has received near normal rainfall last week and 21 out of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions received normal to excess rains.

In the rest 15 sub-divisions, rainfall was either deficient or scanty, the weather office said.

We track what’s happening in the country:

Mumbai

Heavy water-logging and traffic jams were witnessed in various main thoroughfares causing inconvenience to office-goers. Traffic in both western and eastern highways was moving at a snail's pace.

According to the Met Department, the rainfall recorded at suburban Santacruz was 14.8 cm in the last 24 hours.

With visibility reduced to mere 800 metres, the flight schedules from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport was also partially affected with a delay of 15 to 20 minutes, Airport sources said.

All suburban trains were also running late by nearly an hour. Several trees were uprooted due to strong winds in the city. The weather bureau has forecast spells of heavy to very heavy rains with strong winds for the day.

Pune

Heavy rains lashed the city and many parts of western Maharashtra. The monsoon has raised hopes of bridging the considerable rainfall deficit with favourable conditions for

Kharif sowings.

Reports of good rains were received from Kolhapur and Satara also with a four feet rise in the Koyna dam water level, official sources said.

The Meteorological Department attributed revival of the monsoon in interior Maharashtra to the low pressure area formed over Bay of Bengal and predicted continuation of heavy showers in the next 24 hours.

Karnataka

A flood alert has been sounded in Hogenakkal area and surrounding villages by the district administration following release of surplus water to the Cauvery river from dams in Karnataka.

They said surplus water, released from the Kabini and Krishnarajasagar, had reached Stanley reservoir in Mettur through Hogenakkal.

The villagers in low lying areas have been asked to vacate and move to safer places.

Delhi

With monsoon still eluding Delhi, the capital continued to be in the grip of high temperature and humidity on Tuesday.

"The maximum temperature today (Tuesday) is expected to be around 36 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature around 27 degree Celsius," an official of the India Meteorological Department said.

The high humidity added to the discomfort of residents. It is expected to be around 79 per cent on Tuesday.

"A partly cloudy sky is expected with some possibility of rain during the day," the Met official added.