Mumbai: Heavy monsoon downpour flooded the streets and disrupted life in Mumbai on Saturday as pedestrians waded through filthy knee-deep water. Many commuters were stranded on the flooded streets as their vehicles broke down. "It has been raining heavily since the morning. And you can see there is a lot of traffic jam on the bridge. We live nearby so we just need to shop for some stuff but it has been hectic because of traffic and you can see right down there is a manhole open. But BMC is doing its job. Let's hope it gets over soon," said Achint Gopalan, a local resident. Meanwhile, some educational institutes in the city declared holiday in the wake of heavy downpour. For past many years monsoon rains have been playing havoc in the state bringing about chaos in the entire region. According to the municipal officers of the city, about 1 billion rupees are spent each year on bracing the city for the monsoon downpours. Yet rains continue to disrupt normal life.

Monsoon woes continue in Uttar Pradesh

     Madna (Uttar Pradesh): Delay in Monsoon in Uttar Pradesh is upsetting villagers and farmers of Madna village as they are going through a tough time as the fields in the region have almost dried up. Harvesting was supposed to start by June 15 but with the delay in monsoons, the whole schedule went haywire. "We haven't received any rainfall since last monsoon. We received light rainfall some 7-8 days ago but it was of no benefit. The crops are completely dried up. We don't plough the land now as the crops which have dried up are now finished," said Kamlesh Singh, owner of a field. The village head of Madna, Om Prakash fears that if the current situation continues, it may bring the villagers on the verge of death. "Farmers are feeling helpless as our village is a flood prone village and many of the sugarcane crops got destroyed earlier because of it. This time we just had wheat crop yield and if there are no rains, then drought might occur and bring the farmers to the verge of death," said Om Prakash. Meanwhile, priests in Hyderabad performed fire rituals to appease the Hindu God of rain, Indra. While incessant rains are lashing the western parts of the country disrupting normal life, it is playing truant in some southern parts of the country. The monsoon is crucial for summer-sown (Kharif) crops and most of the country's marginal farmers rely solely on the rains. Lack of rains has created concern among people across the country. Thus almost all farmers are desperately seeking divine intervention. Parched farmlands present a grim situation.
-July 4, 2009