<p>Fifteen people were killed in heavy rains and floods in Uttar Pradesh Monday and a flood alert was sounded in several districts of the state, officials said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>All the casualties were reported from Saharanpur, where many pilgrims are trapped in the Shakumbhari Devi area following the rain and floods.<br /><br />The flood alert was sounded in many districts as rivers like the Ganga, Ghaghra and Sharda are in spate.<br /><br />Among the dead is a chief medical officer (CMO) from Punjab and his family of five, who drowned after being caught in raging river waters.<br /><br />"Heavy rains are expected across eastern and western parts of Uttar Pradesh in the next 24 hours," regional director of the met office here J.P. Gupta told IANS.<br /><br />Flooding has been reported from Saharanpur, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar, Gorakhpur, Siddharthanagar, Azamgarh, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ballia and Varanasi.<br /><br />The state government has deployed 14 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) for flood relief and rescue operations in rain-hit areas of Faizabad, Bareilly, Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Saharnpur, Hapur, Bijnore and Varanasi.<br /><br />Inspector General of Police (IG) Law & Order R.K Vishwakarma told IANS that till Monday evening, 45 people trapped in inundated areas had been rescued by choppers.<br /></p>
<p>Fifteen people were killed in heavy rains and floods in Uttar Pradesh Monday and a flood alert was sounded in several districts of the state, officials said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>All the casualties were reported from Saharanpur, where many pilgrims are trapped in the Shakumbhari Devi area following the rain and floods.<br /><br />The flood alert was sounded in many districts as rivers like the Ganga, Ghaghra and Sharda are in spate.<br /><br />Among the dead is a chief medical officer (CMO) from Punjab and his family of five, who drowned after being caught in raging river waters.<br /><br />"Heavy rains are expected across eastern and western parts of Uttar Pradesh in the next 24 hours," regional director of the met office here J.P. Gupta told IANS.<br /><br />Flooding has been reported from Saharanpur, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar, Gorakhpur, Siddharthanagar, Azamgarh, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ballia and Varanasi.<br /><br />The state government has deployed 14 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) for flood relief and rescue operations in rain-hit areas of Faizabad, Bareilly, Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Saharnpur, Hapur, Bijnore and Varanasi.<br /><br />Inspector General of Police (IG) Law & Order R.K Vishwakarma told IANS that till Monday evening, 45 people trapped in inundated areas had been rescued by choppers.<br /></p>