Floods, lightning claim over 60 lives

New Delhi, July 30 

Rains lashed northern and eastern parts of the country, aggravating the flood situation in Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and West Bengal, where 34 persons have died, while lightning claimed 27 lives in Odisha.

Floods in Assam have killed 29 persons and affected nearly 37 lakh people across more than 3,300 villages in 28 districts of the state, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said.

Official reports said flood waters have risen following heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan as well as in the state.

In Meghalaya, three persons were killed and two went missing as floodwaters submerged the West Garo Hills district today. Even as the back flow of Brahmaputra and Jinjiram rivers has gone down marginally, many villages were inundated due to incessant rainfall.

In Bihar, many rivers are flowing above danger level, as flood continued to wreak havoc, affecting 26.19 lakh people. Two more districts of East Champaran and Muzaffarpur were declared as flood-hit. Two girls were swept away by waters of Burhidangi river in Kishanganj. — PTI