Dehradun (Uttarakhand), July 25 : A record rainfall in Dehradun city of Uttarakhand has brought everything here to a standstill. Local residents observe it as a quite unusual occurrence for July in this part of the State.

Dehradun has witnessed 596-millimetre rainfall this month, which is a record here for July.

The monsoon arrived much earlier this year as compared to the previous years. The normal rainfall in June used to be 225 millimeters but it was 598 millimeters this year.

Heavy rains have caused massive damage to public property. Dehradun has been badly affected with low-lying areas either submerged or clogged by water.

Many villages have been isolated due to incessant rains with almost houses being almost submerged in water. Kargi, Kargi Grant, Kanvli, Banjaravala and GMS Road are the areas, in particular, where many of the houses have been extensively damaged.

"The rain has badly affected this year. We have suffered big losses to our property. The building that is there at the backside of our house fell down on our house damaging our kitchen, toilet, bathroom and store. We are facing trouble," said Kamla Devi, a local.

According to the Meteorological Department, apart from other parts of the State, Dehradun district itself has witnessed 1100 millimeter of rains till now.

The rainfall depends entirely on the monsoon winds that rise above the Bay of Bengal.

Reacting on the heavy rainfall, Uttarakhand Chief Minister B. C. Khanduri said that the continuous rain was causing heavy losses to the properties and the government was trying to arrange relief for the affected people.

"There has been excessive monsoon this year and it started earlier also. It is raining heavily in comparison to Mumbai and causing massive loss to the roads, the property and the houses. A bridge at Haldwani has been sumbmerged in water and other small bridges have also submerged due to rains recently. We are tying to make arrangements for relief operations but the assessment and extent of the damage can be done only after the monsoon is over," said B. C Khanduri. .

Every year, monsoon rains leave a trail of death and destruction across South Asia, yet much of the economy of a largely agricultural region depends on the monsoon. (ANI)