UP flood situation still grave

Flood situation remained grave in Uttar Pradesh where the toll rose to 89 on Thursday with reports of seven more deaths in the state whose eastern parts were the worst hit.

Six persons were killed in flood-affected areas in Balrampur district, while a 26-year-old youth drowned in Gonda district in the past 24 hours, official sources said.

The flood-affected districts included Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Khiri, Sitapur, Faizabad, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Azamgarh, Muzaffarnagar and Siddharth Nagar.

According to reports from Balrampur several mud houses collapsed in Jonaar, Mirzapur, Nandnagar, Hridaynagar, Bhatehia and Belha villages.

Around 1.5 lakh people in 150 villages are affected in the district where relief and rescue work is being carried out.

While Balrampur-Utraula route remain closed, traffic on Balrampur-Tulsipur route was restored as the water level receded. A report from Azamgarh said that breaking a 16-year-old record, the Ghaghra was flowing 1.7 metre above the danger mark. The river swelled after water was released from Girja and Sharda barrage in Bahraich district, it said.

Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Ashutosh Trivedi said 335 boats were deployed and directives issued to evacuate people from 100 villages from the catchment area.

According to a report from Barabanki, around 89,000 people in 125 villages of Ramnagar, Sirauli Gauspur and Ramsnehighat tehsils were affected. 16 relief centres and eight shelter homes have been set up in the area, the report added.