Death toll in Uttar Pradesh storms, rains reaches 142

Lucknow: The death toll in incidents related to severe storms and heavy rains across Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday has gone up to 142 with some seriously wounded people succumbing to their injuries in the hospitals.

The storm that struck several districts, especially in the eastern and central regions of the state, also destroyed standing crops and killed a large number of livestock.

Varanasi, Prayagraj and Kanpur divisions were the worst affected and accounted for the highest number of fatalities. According to the reports, a majority of the fatalities was caused by incidents of wall collapse.

The state government has launched a massive relief operation in the affected areas and the officials have been directed to visit these areas to assess the damage to property and loss of livestock.

The government has announced an immediate ex-gratia relief of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and also directed the officials to provide relief to the affected farmers and others.

The farmers, whose 33 per cent crops had been damaged in the storms and rains, would be provided compensation. Financial compensation would also be provided to those who had lost their livestock, sources said.

The state relief commissioner Hrishikesh Yashod held a meeting with the district magistrates through video conferencing to take stock of the situation. He said that the control room set up at the relief commissioner’s office was regularly monitoring the relief operations. A helpline number has also been created where the affected people can give information about their losses.