Over three dozen people were killed and several injured following thunderstorms and lightning in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
At least 12 people were killed and nearly 28 injured in thunderstorms in different parts of Jharkhand, ANI reported on Tuesday. At least 18 people have died in the state due to weather-related incidents in May, the Hindustan Times reported.
Seventeen people died in Bihar and nine in Uttar Pradesh, where five deaths were reported in Unnao district alone, Principal Secretary (Information) Avinish Awasthi told PTI.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of those who died, ANI reported.
Heavy rain accompanied by high winds uprooted several trees in Ranchi. The India Meteorological Department in Ranchi has warned that thunderstorms would continue till the monsoon hits Jharkhand around June 12.
“Due to availability of ample moisture in the atmosphere, pre-monsoon thunder cells will be forming causing intermittent thunderstorm and heavy rain in parts of Jharkhand,” BK Mandal, director at IMD, Ranchi, told the Hindustan Times.
The meteorological department in Lucknow predicted thunderstorm accompanied with rain, squall and hail stones on Tuesday in some areas in Hardoi, Sitapur and Farrukhabad districts, ANI reported.
Meawhile, heavy rain hit the Kerala coast on Monday and is expected to continue to lash parts of the coast on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported. The monsoon weather also advanced into parts of Southeast Arabian Sea, Maldives, Comorin areas and parts of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
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