Met predicts more rain

  • 17/06/2008

  • Times Of India (New Delhi)

Times of India, Jaipur When it rains, it pours. This came true for Rajasthan, which received heavy rain in several districts on Tuesday. Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Jaipur, Sikar and Jhunjhunu received heavy rain on Tuesday. Four children, aged between 10 and 13 years, drowned in a pond at Amrapura village in Alwar district. The children had gone swimming and were unprepared for the increased water level following heavy rain since Monday night. Alwar generally receives about 42.2 mm rain by June 17, but this year it has received 198 mm rain. With the cracks developing in walls of several smaller dams in Alwar and Bharatpur, at least 20 villages face severe problems of waterlogging. Alwar was the worst affected district, where the wall of 'Toda Dam' in Laxmangarh collapsed, flooding at least a dozen surrounding villages. According to the district authorities, these villages were cut off for hours on Tuesday before the communication was restored later in the evening. A river called Ruparen in the district was also overflowing, causing severe waterlogging problems in surrounding villages. Four small dams in Bayana tehsil of Bharatpur were also damaged following heavy rain in the area since Monday night. Pilupura, the epicentre of the Gujjar agitation, also received heavy rain on Tuesday but failed to dampen the agitators, who are still squatting on the tracks. Tuesday showers seemed to only strengthen the weatherman's reports of a good and an early monsoon this year. Monsoon hit the state last week, about 12 days before schedule. The Met department officials have issued a heavy rainfall warning during the next 48 hours for Jaipur and Kota divisions. Jaipur received 33 mm on rain on Tuesday. The city usually receives about 47.1 mm rain in pre-monsoon showers by June 17, but this year it has already received 57.5 mm. The highest rainfall was recorded at Shahpura tehsil at 61 mm while Jamwaramgarh and Viratnagar tehsils received 53 mm. Other districts like Kota, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Pushkar also received light showers on Tuesday.