Monsoon vigorous in Gujarat, erratic in North

New Delhi: Torrential rains pelted financial capital Mumbai and other parts of the western region flooding streets and causing travel woes even as the southwest monsoon remained feeble and erratic in North India which received scattered showers on Wednesday.

Army was asked to standby in Gujarat's Junagadh district as incessant rains battered Mangrol area snapping road links which cut off several villages from rest of the world.

Over 200 families were evacuated from marooned villages to safer places in Mangrol which received 500 mm of rains.

In Maharashtra, heavy rains pounded Mumbai, Vidarbha and Pune inundating low-lying areas, affecting normal life and causing major rivers to rise menacingly.

Several outstation trains were diverted as heavy showers lashed Mumbai for the third day in a row with the metropolis recording 240.1 mm of rains since last evening, the weather office said.

However, rains eased water woes of parched Pune where level of four dams -- Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar -- rose substantially.

In North India, which remained rain-deficient, Rajasthan and the national capital received showers while rains eluded Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Showers lashed many places in Rajasthan with state capital Jaipur receiving 17 mm of rains and Sarwad 14 mm as other parts of the desert state had light to moderate showers.

Though rains played truant in Punjab and Haryana, day temperatures stayed below normal at many places in the two states.

The maximum in Karnal in Haryana settled at 31.4 degree Celsius while Hisar was slightly warmer at 36.5 degrees.

Ludhiana in Punjab registered a high of 34 degrees, down by two notches, while the maximum in Patiala was 33.4, also two degrees below normal.

In hill state Himachal Pradesh, intermittent showers ensured that day temperatures stayed at comfortable levels.

In Queen of Hills Shimla, which received 8.6 mm of rains, the day temperature touched a high of 22.4 degrees.

Delhiites got respite from the scorching heat as rains lashed almost every part of the national capital.

The maximum temperature fell to 33.9 degree Celsius against yesterday's 37.5 degrees as the weather office forecast more showers on Thursday.