Lucknow:
Heavy and continuous rainfall continues to affect many parts of India. In the north, many major rivers are in spate and floods continue to impact several villages in Uttar Pradesh.
The Ghagra river is 35 cms above danger mark. It has breached its embankment along the Charasi village in Barabanki. Over a dozen villages are likely to be affected after four lakh cusecs of water has been released by Nepal on Wednesday. The district administration has asked for the National Disaster Management Force (NDMF) to deal with the crisis. Around ten thousand people have been affected in Gonda district alone.
Meanwhile, in the Karnalganj tehsil of Gonda district, 163 boats have been deployed to rescue villagers. In Bijnor district, the embankment of the Malan river was breached, which flooded 10 villages. In Gonda district, over 25,000 people have abandoned their homes and taken shelter in makeshift relief camps. The Delhi-Lucknow highway was submerged under four feet of water, which disrupted traffic for several hours.
It was a similar situation in Uttarakhand. Heavy rains since the 13th of this month have lead to the death of 23 people. The administration has sounded a red-alert in the state and the government has asked tourists and pilgrims to postpone their visit by a week. Schools will also be closed for two days.
In West Bengal, major rivers continue to flow above the danger mark, flooding the low lying areas in its vicinity. Twenty-seven people have died because of the floods in the last seven days and around 26 lakh people in 14 districts have been affected. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a compensation of 2 lakh rupees to the families of each of those who have died in the floods. She has also announced a sum of Rs.10,000 for those whose houses were completely destroyed. Udaynarayanpur and Amta in Howrah district and Khanakul in Hooghly district are the worst affected blocks.
In the national capital, experts say the water level in the Yamuna river might cross the danger mark. Heavy rain in the upper catchment areas of the Yamuna has forced Haryana to release 6,22,000 cusecs of water through the Hathnikund barrage. The Delhi government has already started evacuating people from the low-lying areas and taking them to makeshift shelters.