NEW DELHI
\nIncessant rain lashed parts of northern India on Monday forcing schools to close in several cities as an unusually late rainy season prolonged havoc across the country, and killed 18 people over the past 24 hours.
\nThe state-run Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy rainfall was expected for the northwestern states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan until Tuesday.
\nThe rainy season usually draws to a close in northwest India from mid-September, and it should be ending across the country by mid-October.
\nSome environmentalists suspect climate change is behind the unusually wet weather.
\nParts of northwest India got 1293% more rainfall than normal on Sunday, with Uttar Pradesh state receiving as much as 22.5 mm, the IMD said.
\nEighteen people were killed in various accidents attributed to the rain over the past 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh, including drownings and electrocutions, authorities said.
\nThree people were killed when a building collapsed in the capital, New Delhi, as heavy rain drenched the city on Sunday, Reuters partner ANI reported, but it was not immediately clear if rain caused the collapse.
\nOne benefit of the rain has been cleaner air.
\nDelhi\u2019s air improved significantly because of the weekend downpours with the quality index at 36, in the \u201cgood\u201d category, early on Monday, according to the U.S. Embassy\u2019s air pollution monitor.
\nIncessant rain and floods have been a bane for big Indian cities in the past month, including the tech hub Bengaluru in southern India and the business district of Gurugram near New Delhi.
\nNeighbouring Pakistan has also been hit by unprecedented flooding and the government there blames on climate change for usually heavy rain and for accelerating the melting of Himalayan glaciers.
\nHeavy rain over the past five days has triggered landslides and flash floods across Nepal, stranding dozens of foreign hikers and climbers in several places, authorities there said.
\nOctober is usually the beginning of the clear, dry trekking season in Nepal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Incessant rain lashed parts of northern India on Monday forcing schools to close in several cities as an unusually late rainy season prolonged havoc across the country, and killed 18 people over the past 24 hours. The state-run Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy rainfall was expected for the northwestern states of Uttarakhand, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-288518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n