Rain batters Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

It virtually rained ‘death’ on Sakalu’s family at Aswara village in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district  in the wee hours of Saturday when the adjoining ‘kuchha’ house failed to withstand the rain fury and came down on his ‘ thatched house, trapping him and eight others  of his family.

While the five  members were killed on the spot, four others survived with severe injuries.

“We were sleeping when the house collapsed. Though it had been raining hard we had no idea that the house will give in,” said Sakalu’s brother Ramjag, who is being treated at the community health centre.

But for the timely help by the villagers, who rushed to the spot and extricated the injured from the debris, the toll could have been much higher, he said.

Several villages in the district has the same story to tell. In Mohammadpur village, Durga Prasad lost his two children, Munnar and Karia when the wall of their house collapsed  Sunday night.  

Of the total 37 deaths in the eastern districts, Jaunpur alone accounted for 18 deaths. Hundreds of houses caved in and a large number of cattle also perished. Though the rains have abated, it has left behind a trail of destruction in many districts, especially in Jaunpur.

At least 25 people were injured in rain related incidents in the district. The rains also claimed several lives in Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Mirzapur, Sonebhadra, Chandauli, Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Varanasi recorded 300 millimetres of rains and reported six deaths. 

The administration has set up a control room in Jaunpur and announced an ex gratia relief of rupees one lakh to each of the next of the kin of the deceased.

Meanwhile, rains in the catchment areas once again swelled major rivers in the eastern UP with Ganga, Ghaghra and Gomti registering rising trends. The incessant rain for the last three days has opened a floodgate of miseries for the people in eastern Bihar in general and the state capital in particular.

Flood situation

People in Patna had a harrowing time after incessant rains lashed the city for the last 72 hours. 

Flood situation in five districts worsened following continuous rain and discharge of 9.58 lakh cusecs of water from Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh and Rihand dam in Uttar Pradesh.

Flood water in Sone inundated several villages in Bihar’s Rohtas, Bhojpur, Aurangabad, Arwal and Patna districts. Mahabodhi Express and Bombay Mail were terminated while Varanasi-Asansol passenger train was cancelled as water overtopped the railway tracks.

“In view of the worsening flood situation, the state government has cancelled leaves of all engineers till October 15,” said Minister for Water Resources Vijay Choudhary.

School children and office-goers were the worst  hit in Patna on Monday as the state capital recorded 39.3 mm rainfall.  “Heavy rains are expected in the next 24 hours,” said

Animesh Chanda, director of the Indian Meteorological Department in Patna.Movement of trains was also affected on Mughalsarai-Gaya section. In Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took stock of the situation during a high-level meeting with Chief Secretary, flanked by Commissioners of Water Resources Department and Disaster Management Department.