Flood threat looms large over UP

Uttar Pradesh on Monday stared at prospects of a flood following incessant rain in the state and Uttarakhand. Huge amount of water had to be released from reservoirs, adding to Uttar Pradesh’s trouble.

According to reports, the Sharda and Ghaghra rivers were rising all along their course in the state. Large tracts of land in the low-lying areas of Baharaich, Pilibhit and Lakhimpur-Kheri districts have been inundated forcing a large number of people to shift to safer areas.

As the monsoon hit the state well before the schedule, heavy rains lashed large parts of the state for the past two days. Rains broke all past records in the western region. The rain that started on Saturday evening and continued till Monday bringing down the temperature considerably, reports said.

Officials said 20 flood centres and 45 flood outposts in the state have been alerted and the official machinery has been gearing up to face the threat of floods.

The neighbouring state of Uttarakhand has been witnessing heavy rains for the past three days as a result of which there has been a sudden influx of water in the Ganga. Around 2.7 lakh cusecs of water has been released into the Ghaghra from Banbasa Barrage causing a sharp rise in the water level of the river.

Meteorological Department (Met) office has warned that heavy rains will continue to lash the state for at least two days. It said that the monsoon has covered the entire state owing to strong winds.

State irrigation minister Shivpal Singh Yadav said on Monday that the officials had been directed to take all precautionary measures to tackle the flood threat. “We will take every step to make sure that there was no loss of life”, Yadav said here.