Lucknow,: The Army was alerted yesterday as floods continued to wreak havoc for the second consecutive day in Uttar Pradesh, an official said.
Hundreds of villages have been flooded in Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur and Lakhimpur Kheri districts. Twenty-eight people have so far died, the state government said. The fury of Ghaghra, Rapti and Sharda rivers has aggravated after neighbouring Nepal released water.
Doctors’ leave has been cancelled over fears of an epidemic outbreak due to the flood waters entering residential areas.
More than 17,000 people are staying in relief camps, an official said and added that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed while the army has been alerted.
Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said 73 relief camps have been set up. The state government has also released Rs51 crore for relief works. It has also announced an ex-gratia of Rs1.5 lakh each to those who have died in the floods.
The bureaucrat added Sant Kabir Nagar and Ballia areas were now vulnerable to floods.
A district official said that it was after a gap of 37 years that flood water had entered Balrampur area.
Meanwhile, the deaths in the Bihar floods rose to nine yesterday, said an official who added that nearly 11 lakh people in the state have been affected by floods.
Sunil Kumar, an official of state disaster management department, said so far floods have claimed lives of nine people, of whom six have died in Nalanda district, which is among the worst-hit.
“Around 11 lakh people in 582 villages under 43 blocks have been hit by floods in several districts, including seven lakh in Nalanda,” Kumar said.
He said major rivers, including Kosi, were flowing above the danger mark at several places. “Situation remains grim due to rising water level of rivers,” he said.
He said so far 37,000 people have been evacuated from flood-hit districts of Saharsa, Supaul, Darbhanga and Gopalganj.
“The department has set up 76 relief camps in these districts,” he added.
Earlier, the government sounded a high alert as water level in major rivers in north Bihar, especially the Kosi, Gandak, Kamla Balan and Bagmati, rose following heavy rain in their catchment areas in Nepal.
Over a dozen teams of the National Disaster Response Force and state disaster response force have been deployed in flood-hit districts. The state disaster management department has asked people living in low-lying areas to move to higher ground.
IANS
