34 killed, several injured as thunderstorms lash Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh

Around 34 people were killed and several injured as thunderstorms lashed Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in past two days, according to several media reports.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, 12 died in Jharkhand, 12 were killed in Bihar and 10 in Uttar Pradesh.

Representational image. Reuters

In Bihar, three of a family lost their lives when a tree collapsed at Pekha village. Several parts of Jharkhand have also been witnessing storms since Sunday. Rescue operations are on to ensure that further casualties are avoided, the report said.

According to Times Now, the Ranchi Met Centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a thunderstorm alert last week. Many houses and structures were reportedly damaged due to thunderstorms in different parts of these states.

On Monday, Principal Secretary of Information, Avinish Awasthi, told PTI,"As many as five persons were killed and four others injured as lightning struck some parts of Unnao district last night."

On Tuesday, the southwest monsoon hit Kerala, three days ahead of its scheduled arrival, the IMD said. The southwest monsoon has been advancing well and will cover some parts of Kerala on Tuesday, in line with the forecast of the India Meteorological Department, a senior weather department official, who did not wish to be named as he was not authorised to talk to media, said.

The India Meteorological Department declares the arrival of monsoon rains only after parameters measuring the consistency of the rainfall over a defined geography, intensity, cloudiness and wind speed are satisfied. The southwest monsoon has advanced into remaining parts of southeast Arabian Sea, Comorin-Maldives area, entire Lakshadweep, some parts of Tamil Nadu and some more parts of southwest, central and northeast Bay of Bengal.

The monsoon marks the beginning of the rainy season as it advances northward. India is set to get a normal monsoon in 2018, with average rainfall likely to be around 97 percent, essential for its economy.

With inputs from agencies