Extensive damage to crops has been reported from many parts of Uttar Pradesh as heavy rains accompanied by light wind lashed the state for the second consecutive day on Monday.With more than 18.22 mm of rain being recorded in some places, including the state capital, the roads in the city were inundated while in the countryside, the rains wreaked havoc on the standing wheat crop.Already ravaged by the rains in the past three weeks, which had felled the standing crop, the remaining hopes of the farmers were dashed on Monday when the downpour left the fields inundated, leading to the wetting of the harvested crop that had been cut and was ready to be put into threshers. Officials said more than 16 districts have received moderate to very heavy rains in the past 24 hours.
Regional Met Director J.P. Gupta said that the rains occurred due to a western disturbance and a depression over Rajasthan. He also forecast more rains in the next 48 hours in Lucknow and neighbouring areas. Gupta further said that there was a changed trend in the western disturbances as earlier they led to rains and changed weather in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, but now they encompass a larger area.The districts which received heavy rains on Monday were Banda, Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Hardoi, Auraiya, Orai, Unnao, Maharajganj, Agra, Mathura, Saharanpur, Firozabad and Meerut.