Ranchi, Jul 26 (IANS): Incessant rains for last five days have wrecked havoc in Jharkhand and claimed nine lives.

Three persons were killed in Ranchi when a tree fell on an auto-rickshaw on Tuesday. Two persons were killed each in Dhanbad and Hazaribagh districts. One person died in Giridih and another in Bokaro district, officials said.

The Jharkhand government has announced Rs 2 compensation to the families of each person killed in the rains.

In low-lying areas of Ranchi, Ramgarh, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and other districts, water has entered houses. Some houses were under one to two feet of water here.

All government and private schools in Ranchi were closed on Wednesday. Ranchi alone has seen more than 190 mm of rainfall since Saturday.

The MET department has warned of heavy to heavy rainfall (7-20 cm) on Wednesday and Thursday. In Ranchi, water flowed on all the roads, paralysing transport.

Due to the heavy rainfall, many districts are witnessing flood like situation.