15 Uttar Pradesh districts hit by floods; Yogi Adityanath directs officials to maintain social distancing in relief camps

With 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh hit by floods, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed officials to maintain social distancing in relief camps set up in the deluge-hit areas.

He asked officials to segregate those who have fever, cold and headache and get them tested for Covid-19 if required.

The Sharda river at Palia Kalan in Lakhimpur Kheri and the Saryu and the Ghaghra at Barabanki's Elgin Bridge, Ayodhya and Ballia's Turtipar are flowing above the danger mark, relief commissioner Sanjay Goyal said.

The deluge has affected 788 villages in 15 districts, he said. Among the affected villages, 454 are marooned.

Twenty-two teams of NDRF, SDRFand PAC have been deployed in the affected districts for search and rescue operations. Besides, 1,046 boats have been deployed and 741 flood chowkis set up to monitor the situation round the clock.

The districts hit by the deluge are Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Ballia, Barabanki, Basti, Deoria, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kheri, Kushinagar, Mau, Sant Kabir Nagar and Sitapur, he said

The chief minister has asked for regular patrolling on the embankments for keeping a close watch on erosion or any other kind of damage, the relief commissioner said.

Officials have also been instructed to ensure proper lighting and cleaning around the relief camps to ward off snakebite-like incidents.