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No respite as rains continue to wreak havoc

The Ganga crept towards the danger mark in Patna even as rain-fed rivers claimed three more lives, pushing up the monsoon death toll to 321 yesterday.

One person was killed in Sitamarhi district of Bihar while two deaths were reported from Kerala.

The threat of floods loomed large over low-lying areas in Patna with the Ganga set to overflow its banks at Gandhighat. The river was rising menacingly at other places also.

The Sone, Bagmati, Koshi, Punpun and Adhwara rivers too were rising. The flood control cell at Patna said the rivers were exerting pressure on their dykes at various points, particularly the Gandak at Pipra Piprasi.

In all, some four million people in 13 north Bihar districts have been affected by the floods. Governor B M Lal had made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Darbhanga and Sitamarhi districts and lambasted the administration for its callousness in dealing with the situation.

Even though the districts were reeling under floods for the last one month, the administration had started distributing relief material only yesterday, he told reporters.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Ghagra and Ganga were in spate. The Ghagra was flowing above the red mark at Ayodhya and was likely to cross it at Elgin bridge and Turtipar. The Ganga was expected to cross the danger level at Ballia today. The Yamuna was rising at Naini near Allahabad.

The Uttar Pradesh hills and Mahona, Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Etawah, Chatnag and other places in the plains had moderate to heavy rains yesterday.

In south India, Kerala continued to be lashed by heavy rains. Palakkad and Kannur districts received the maximum rainfall during the past 24 hours. One death each was reported from Malappuram and Kannur districts.

In Madhya Pradesh, the monsoon remained active in Gwalior, Chambal, Sagar, Ujjain and Indore divisions. The temple town of Khajuraho recorded six centimetres of rain.

Traffic was affected on the Guna-Vidisha, Kumbhraj-Sanai and Kumbhraj-Chhavara roads in the state as some rivers and rivulets were in spate.

UNI

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