Flood situation grim in eastern UP; 76 deaths so far

Lucknow, Aug 21 : Flood situation in Uttar Pradesh continued to be grim with the Army, para-military and state police force working round the clock in the rescue and relief work. The situation in Gorakhpur, Sidharthanagar, Balrampur, Gonda, Sitapur and Lakhimpur Kheri was said to be very critical. Over 2 million people are affected and 76 more have lost their lives in the floods, officials of the relief and rehabilitation department said, adding that the flood has spread in 24 districts of the state. The water release from the dams in Nepal have flooded the Ghagra, Rapti and others rivers, which led to floods in UP and Bihar. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath undertakes aerial view of the flood affected areas regularly and hold meetings with the officials of the districts to monitor the rescue and relief operations. Of the total deaths, the highest was reported from Balrampur where 18 people drowned in the flood, followed by 16 in Bahraich, nine in Barabanki, 14 in Sitapur, 12 in Sidharthnagar and rest from other places. However, the Awadh area reported the highest deaths of 67 in this floods. In Sitapur, six children drowned at different places yesterday. In the state, the floods have affected over 3,500 villages with over 2,000 villages totally submerged in the water and over one lakh people been shifted to safer places. About 43,600 people are staying in the flood relief camps. Sources said 21 teams of NDRF, 30 companies of PAC, along with two choppers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and several columns of the Army personnel were working round the clock to save the life and properties in the affected areas. A report from Gorakhpur said that more than 2.64 lakh people are affected in the flood after 153 villages totally marooned in the water. Sources said last night flood waters started sweeping in from two embankments of Rapti in Chaurichara while the traffic on the Gorakhpur-Varanasi highway was paralyzed when water inundated the road at Kasihar area. Several parts of the Gorakhpur city went without electricity when water entered the Maniram power feeder. All the schools and colleges of Gorakhpur will be closed till August 23. Another report from Sidharnath Nagar district said that Rapti, Burhi Rapti, Kuraha and Ghogi rivers were creating havoc in the districts where 12 people have died in the floods so far. The floods have submerged several areas of Bansi, Doomariaganj, Etwa, Sohratgarh and Navgarh tehsils where over 700 villages have flood impact. The road connecting district headquarters with Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Basti has been snapped for the past one week. UNI