The flood situation in Assam and Bihar remained grim on Thursday with four more deaths reported from the northeastern district, while the UNICEF said 2.4 million children have been affected across the country and need immediate support.
Also, several rivers in North Bengal, including Teesta, Kaljani, and Mansai are in spate owing to heavy rains in the catchment areas over the past several days, causing people in low-lying areas to take shelter at safer places.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department said Delhi has already recorded 50 per cent more than normal rainfall for July with spells of heavy downpour this week.
According to the IMD data, the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, has recorded 225 mm rainfall in July so far, which is 50 per cent more than the normal of 149.8 mm.
The Lodhi Road weather station has gauged 246 mm rainfall which is 64 per cent more than the normal of 149.8 mm.
The Palam weather station has recorded 37 per cent surplus precipitation -- 224 mm against the normal of 164.1 mm.
In the northeastern state of Assam, four more people died in flood-related incidents while 28.32 lakh people in 26 of the state's 33 districts have been affected, a government report said on Thursday.
The fresh deaths took this year's flood toll in the state to 93.
Governor Jagdish Mukhi made an aerial survey of flood-hit areas and said he would request the Centre to find out a permanent solution to the problem.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also visited affected areas in Darrang and Kamrup districts.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said in a bulletin on Thursday that one person each died in Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Morigaon and Golaghat districts.
Nearly 1,19 lakh hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, ASDMA added.
Till Wednesday, a population of more than 26 lakh were suffering in 26 districts.
The mighty Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger marks at Dibrugarh, Dhubri and Goalpara cities, besides at Neamatighat in Jorhat and Tezpur in Sonitpur districts.
The Flood situation remained grim in Bihar as well where 7.65 lakh, up from under five lakh the previous day, are affected even though no loss of life is reported, the disaster management department said.
The districts affected by the floods, caused by heavy rainfall in the catchment areas along the border with Nepal, are: West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Khagaria and Gopalganj.
Thirteen teams of the NDRF and eight of the SDRF are involved in the rescue operations as part of which 36,448 people have been evacuated from the marooned areas so far.
Meanwhile, the UNICEF said an estimated 2.4 million children have been affected by the recent floods in the country.
"In India, over 6 million people across Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have been affected by the floods, including an estimated 2.4 million children," it said in a statement.
Immediate support, more resources and innovative programmes are urgently needed to address the challenges that these threats represent to the region's children, said Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia.
The IMD said in a tweet around 2 pm that moderate to severe thunderstorm and lightning is very likely at isolated places over south Bihar, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Telangana during next 12 hours.
About the positioning of monsoon, it said the western end of the monsoon trough at mean sea level lies close to the foothills of the Himalayas and eastern end is near its normal position.
In West Bengal, sub-Himalayan districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Coochbehar are likely to receive heavy to heavy rain till Friday morning and heavy rain till July 28 morning, the IMD said.
In South Bengal, the weatherman has forecast heavy rain in the coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas and heavy to very heavy rain in East Midnapore till Saturday morning.
Up north in Uttarakhand, 53 families of Dhapa village in Pithoragarh were evacuated to safety after a huge ditch started to develop in the middle of the village, following torrential rains over the past few days.
"The families have been shifted as a precautionary measure to nearby safe locations like anganwadi centres, primary schools and government buildings, where they are being taken care of by the district supply officer and revenue officials," Pithoragarh District Magistrate V K Jogdande said.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the Monday cloudburst in Bangapani sub-division of the district rose to 12 on Thursday with the recovery of two more bodies from Tanga village.
