One person has died in the floods that have affected around 2.4 lakh people in over 1,000 villages in 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday. According to them, 153 of the 1,079 flood-affected villages are cut off from the rest of the state. As many as 347 refugee houses have been constructed in the flood-hit districts where around 21,000 people are staying, sources at the Relief Commissioner’s office said.
They said 26 teams of NDRF and SDRF were pressed into action while distributing food packets in the flooded areas.
The rising water levels of the Ganges and Varuna rivers have submerged parts of Varanasi, including the famous ghats, forcing us to cremate dead bodies on roadsides and rooftops at Harishchandra and Manikarnika ghats.
Sources in the district administration said the water degree of the Ganga in Varanasi district has crossed the hazard mark, affecting 28,499 human beings in a hundred and fifteen villages. Crops in over 608.572 hectares have been affected by this flood.
27 villages in the Ballia district have been affected by the rising water level of the Ganga river. At the expense of the Emergency Management Department in Ballia, Piyush Singh said that a man drowned on Monday when he fell from a temporary irrigation dam into the swollen Ganga River.
In Mirzapur, the water level of river Ganga crossed the threshold mark on Monday night but is now receding. 103 villages of the district have been affected.
Crops of 2,300 hectares of land in Hamirpur, Maudah and Sarila have been submerged in flood water.
A surprise surge of water due to heavy rains in the Shivalik hills stranded many devotees for some time near the Maa Shakambari Devi temple in Saharanpur and several parked cars were partially submerged, a dignitary said.
On receiving information about the floods on Monday, the district authorities ushered the pilgrims to a safe place and took the additional vehicles to safety.
The water washed away a bus and a few motorbikes of pilgrims who were later taken to safety, Suraj Rai, Superintendent of Police (Rural) advised PTI.
The vehicles parked near the temple were empty at the time of the incident, Rai said, adding that the rescue operation ended on Monday evening.
The meteorological department said mild to reasonable rain and thundershowers passed off at a few locations over western Uttar Pradesh and remoted areas in the eastern parts of the state.
Rains had been recorded in Fatehpur tehsil in Barabanki, Sahaswan and Dataganj in Budaun every recorded 7 centimetres of rain accompanied via Etah and Tundla in Firozabad district each logging 6 centimetres of rain.
Light to moderate rain and thundershowers occurred at a few places over western Uttar Pradesh and remote parts of eastern parts of the state, the Meteorological Department said.
Barabanki’s Fatehpur tehsil, Budaun’s Sahaswan and Dataganj recorded rainfall of 7 cm each with 6 cm each through Ita and Tundla in Firozabad district.
