Flood fury in UP claims 41 lives, over 1,000 villages hit

The toll in Uttar Pradesh floods on Monday mounted to 41, with reports of 13 more deaths in the state where over 1,000 villages were affected by the flood waters of several rivers flowing above the danger mark.

According to officials, eight persons died in Shravasti, two each in Bahraich and Balrampur and one in Lakhimpur due to flood-related incidents in the past 24 hours. The worst-hit districts are Bahraich, Shravasti, Gonda, Balrampur, Lakhimpur, Barabanki, Sitapur, Faizabad and Azamgarh.

Additional District Magistrate Shravasti, Rajnish Shandara said eight persons were killed in separate incidents due to floods in Bhinga and Ikauna tehsils, while four others were swept away.

Around 117 villages in two tehsils of the district, involving a total population of 60,000 people, have been affected. Chief Revenue Officer Bahraich, US Upadhyay said water levels of river Sarya fell below the danger mark while Ghaghra was still flowing above the red mark.

Local authorities have demanded that two army choppers be pressed for rescue operation in the interior villages where an National Disaster Response Force team was carrying out relief work.

Traffic on National Highway was affected between Bahraich and Lucknow as the flood waters of Ghaghra submerged the road near Ganeshpur. The water level, touching the railway line at Ghaghra bridge, was also posing threat to rail traffic.

In Balrampur and Barabanki, two persons drowned in separate incidents in flooded rivers, while in Lakhimpur the body of a three-year-old girl was recovered from a village.

According to a Central Water Commission report, Rapti river was flowing above the red mark in Birdghat, Gorakhpur. While river Ghagra was flowing above danger mark in Ayodhya and Turtipar, Budhi Rapti had crossed the red mark in Kakhari, Siddharth Nagar and river Sharda was flowing above danger mark at Palliakalan, Lakhimpur. 

Image: Children in a boat at a flood affected village in Dhaurehra Tehsil in Lakhimpur Kheeri, Uttar Pradesh. Photograph: PTI