Special Correspondent
Over 3 lakh people affected, thousands homeless: Officials
Nature's fury: A Vrindavan road eroded by the Yamuna on Friday. — Photo: PTI
With the Ghagra, Sharda, Saryu and Ganga causing havoc following heavy and widespread rainfall, there has been no respite from floods in Uttar Pradesh. The situation deteriorated on Friday, leaving a vast trail of death and destruction. Over 70 people have lost their lives since August 1, the deaths being caused by floods and heavy rain.
According to an official spokesperson, over three lakh people in 14 districts have been affected by floods and thousands rendered homeless, with 302 villages in 26 tehsils being cut off from the adjoining areas.
Bahraich, Faizabad, Gonda, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Sitapur and Ballia districts have borne the brunt of the onslaught by the swollen rivers. Over 1,500 houses have been completely destroyed and 728 others partially in the catchment areas followed by the floods. About 37,000 hectare agricultural area has been consumed by the flood waters.
In Gonda district, where the rampaging Ghagra swept away 32 villages in the Karnailganj tehsil and 24 villages in Tarabganj tehsil, about 15 villages have been marooned, forcing the people to tide across the flood waters in a bid to reach to safer places. The number of flood-hit people in Gonda district was 97,412 as per the information available from the office of the Lucknow Relief Commissioner. The Ghagra has also caused havoc in neighbouring Bahraich district, where nearly 95,000 people in 65 villages in Nanpara, Mahsi and Kaisarganj tehsils have been hit. Apart from the rainfall, the Ghagra's level downstream rose after water was released from the Banbasa barrage upstream on the India-Nepal border.
The turbulent Sharda was another river in spate. It flows through Pilibhit and Lakhimpur Kheri districts, and though the Sharda was flowing below the danger mark at Pallia Bridge and Sharda barrage in Kheri district, flood waters have entered four villages in the past 24 hours. But with the river flowing above the danger mark upstream in Pilibhit district's Puranpur tehsil, 16 villages have been hit by floods in the last 24 hours. The number of flood-hit villages in the district was 73, affecting a population of about 54,000.
Flood waters from the Ghagra entered 82 villages in Laharpur and Biswan tehsils of Sitapur district amid reports of casualties. The Ganga was flowing above the danger level in Ballia district, with 165 villages partially affected.
The official spokesperson said 8,631 flood-hit people were evacuated till Friday and over 4,500 affected present in the relief camps. Over 10,000 cows, goats and buffaloes have also been evacuated. A sum of Rs.6 crore has been allotted to the flood-hit districts for relief and rehabilitation measures.
Rain lashes Uttarakhand
PTI reports from New Delhi:
Heavy showers lashed Uttarakhand on Friday as the monsoon continued to disrupt normal life in North India. Sixty people have died so far in various rain-related incidents in the hill State.
After a one-day break, incessant rain lashed Uttarakhand once again, paralysing normal life and hampering power generation. A red alert has already been sounded in the State, where heavy rain triggered landslides and floods blocking roads and forcing suspension of the Char Dham Yatra for a week.
The Yamuna, meanwhile, continued to flow above the danger mark for the third consecutive day, posing flood threat to low-lying areas in the national Capital.
In Punjab and Haryana, the maximum temperature in most parts settled a few notches below normal following rain at few places.
In neighbouring Rajasthan, a few places recorded light rain.
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