UP rain: 10 killed, 17 injured as 63 districts record excess rainfall and flash flood risk

Ten people were killed and 17 injured in rainrelated incidents in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday as 63 districts recorded abovenormal rainfall and some areas faced a moderate risk of flash floods officials saidThe state received 19 times its normal rainfall in the past 24 hours with heavy rain thunderstorms and strong winds damaging standing crops and 117 houses they saidFive people were killed in separate incidents of mudwall collapse while five others died and 14 were injured after trees were uprooted by strong winds and heavy rain police saidCasualties were reported from Lakhimpur Kheri Amethi Barabanki and Gorakhpur districts In Lucknow three members of a family were injured after the wall of a mud house collapsed in Chaina village They were rescued and provided medical treatmentIn Kannauj 20 kutcha houses were damaged due to incessant rain Additional District Magistrate Devendra Singh said adding that no deaths had been reported in the districtIn Gorakhpur four people were killed and 14 injured in incidents involving uprooted trees officials saidIn Gajarhiya Tola of Lakshmipur II village in Campierganj an old sal tree fell on a hut around 4 pm killing Subhash 55 Gyanmati Devi 45 and Kishan Prajapati 13 Two others Rammilan and Sirjavati sustained serious injuriesSeveral villagers had taken shelter in the hut when the tree fell during the storm Local residents removed the debris and rescued the injured The SDM and police officials reached the spot and supervised relief operationsIn another incident in the Gagaha area a mahua tree fell on Bhim Kumar Vishwakarma near Siyar Mod killing him on the spotIn Jatepur Dakshini locality an around 80yearold pakad tree fell on a house in Kali Mandir Gali injuring four people ndash Suresh Subhash Munni and Chunni Around 12 people were inside the house at the timeThe tree also damaged electricity poles disrupting power supply Electricity was disconnected before rescue operations beganDistrict Magistrate Deepak Meena and Senior Superintendent of Police Kaustubh visited the district hospital to enquire about the injured Relief and restoration work was continuing officials saidAccording to weather data Lucknow recorded 1258 mm of rainfall in the 21 hours ending Saturday morning Farrukhabad received 200 times its normal rainfall while Kanpur Nagar recorded 160 times and Kannauj Kanpur Dehat and Hardoi 130 times their normal rainfallThe India Meteorological Department IMD had forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at several places in eastern Uttar Pradesh on Saturday with rain and thundershowers likely at several places on SundayA depression over northeast Madhya Pradesh and adjoining north Chhattisgarh was moving northnorthwestwards towards southeast Uttar Pradesh At 530 am on Saturday it was centred around 230 km south of Prayagraj officials saidThe system was expected to remain a depression until Saturday evening before weakening into a wellmarked lowpressure area over the next 12 hours the IMD saidThe weather office warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall across several parts of the state with isolated extremely heavy rainfall possible in the central Terai region Some watersheds in central and Terai Uttar Pradesh faced a light to moderate risk of flash floods over the next 24 hours it saidThe intense rainfall caused waterlogging and traffic disruptions in several areas while residents of lowlying localities faced difficulties as rain continued through the nightldquoSeveral roads were waterlogged in the morning Movement became difficult in many placesrdquo a local resident Praveen Singh saidAnother resident said strong winds accompanying the rain had added to the difficulties forcing people to take shelter at several placesIn Ayodhya rain and strong winds affected movement around Ram Path the Ram temple Hanumangarhi Kanak Bhawan and the Saryu arealdquoThe rain did not stop people from visiting the temple but walking around became difficult because of the water and strong windrdquo said Ramesh Sahu a devoteeFarmers in rural areas also reported damage to standing crops ldquoIf the rain and wind continue more crops could fall and the losses will increaserdquo said Pramod Kumar a farmer in HardoiThe state government has put district administrations on alert in view of the forecast and the possibility of flash floods Districts identified as vulnerable to sudden flooding include Azamgarh Ballia Ghazipur Gorakhpur Basti Sultanpur Ayodhya Gonda Hardoi Lucknow Unnao Rae Bareli Barabanki Amethi Kaushambi and ChitrakootSchools have been ordered to remain closed in districts under red alert and facing the possibility of flash floodsChief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed district magistrates in affected areas to remain vigilant and visit vulnerable locations Relief and rescue agencies have been asked to remain prepared while district administrations have been directed to issue weather warningsPeople have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel during thunderstorms and lightning and to stay away from open areas trees and water bodiesIMD data showed that Banda recorded 2276 mm of rainfall Fatehgarh 224 mm Nanpara in Bahraich 217 mm Hardoi 214 mm Kayamganj in Farrukhabad 210 mm Hamirpur 210 mm and Kannauj 204 mm in the 24 hours ending 830 am on SaturdayLakhimpur Kheri Bahraich Shravasti Shahjahanpur Kanpur Lucknow Barabanki and several other districts also received heavy to very heavy rainfallHeavy rain and thunderstorms over the past 48 hours damaged 117 houses in the state government sources said District magistrates have been directed to assess damage to houses and crops while field officials have been asked to monitor waterlogged areas and shift vulnerable families to safer locations where necessaryHeavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in districts including Deoria Gorakhpur Sant Kabir Nagar Basti Kushinagar Maharajganj Siddharthnagar Gonda Balrampur Farrukhabad Kannauj Kanpur Unnao Lucknow Barabanki Etah Mainpuri and Bareilly while several districts in eastern and southern Uttar Pradesh are also expected to receive heavy rainIn view of heavy rainfall in Nepal special vigilance has been ordered in districts bordering the neighbouring country particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh amid the possibility of rising river levelsFire services the Provincial Armed Constabulary civil defence personnel home guards and Aapda Mitras have been asked to remain available for rescue operations District magistrates have also been directed to stay in the field and continuously assess the situationThe Relief Commissioner said weather conditions were expected to normalise after about 36 hours and urged people requiring emergency assistance to contact the relief helpline 1070Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav shared a video on X showing waterlogging on the Ganga Expressway and suggested that it be renamed the ldquoGanga Express WaterwayrdquoldquoRivers of BJP corruption are flowing on the Ganga Expressway A golden opportunity for those who change names give it a new name Ganga Express Waterway Utterly condemnablerdquo he wroteThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever