UP rains: 11 people killed in past 24 hours, schools shut in some districts

Eleven people were killed in rain-related incidents in the past 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh where incessant rain hit normal life, especially in the central part of the state with schools being shut for a day in some places.

In 22 districts of the state, there has been 40 mm plus rains in the last 24 hours including Moradabad, Sambhal, Kannauj, Rampur, Hathras, Barabanki, Kasganj, Bijnor, Amroha, Bahraich, Lucknow, Badaun, Mainpuri, Hardoi, Firozabad, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Kanpur, Sitapur Farrukhabad, Lakhimpur Kheri and Fatehpur.

During this period, four people died in Hardoi, two in Kannauj and one each in Deoria, Kanpur city, Rampur, Sambhal and Unnao in incidents related to heavy rains and drowning, an official of the relief commissioner office said on Monday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed the officials of the affected districts to undertake relief works with full promptness, according to an official spokesperson.

Adityanath has asked the officials to visit the areas and keep an eye on the relief work and asked them to immediately distribute the permissible relief amount to the people affected by the disaster, the spokesperson said.

In case of water logging, effective arrangements should be made for proper drainage and the water level of rivers should be continuously monitored. The damage caused to crops should be assessed and the report should be made available to the government so that compensation amount can be provided to the affected farmers as per rules, the official said quoting the CM.

According to the MET department forecast, heavy rains are likely in the eastern region till September 14 while light rains will continue till September 17, the official of the relief commissioner office said.

The western region of the state is also likely to get rains and showers till September 17 though there is an alert for lightning over the state till September 15.

In Barabanki, the movement of trains has been hit with water coming on the railway tracks. Though a passenger train was halted at the outer for some time but later the trains were allowed to pass at a very slow pace, a railway official said.

Schools in the state capital remain closed on the order of the authorities.

In Lucknow, District Magistrate Surya Pal Gangwar ordered the closure of schools and issued an advisory for the people not to venture out unnecessarily in view of the possibility of severe lightning.

All the district-level officers in Lucknow are in the field and taking stock of the problems caused due to rain. The problem emanating from water logging is being looked into on an urgent basis in different parts of the state capital, the DM said, adding that in the past 24 hours till 8 am Monday, 99.9 mm rainfall has been recorded.

Municipal Corporation teams in urban areas and sub-divisional magistrate led teams in rural areas are in the field and solving people's problems, a district official said, adding that besides visiting these areas, cow shelters are also being inspected and arrangements are being reviewed to ensure their security.

Senior officials rushed to the spot to make arrangements for diverting the traffic in the busy Gomti Nagar area where a part of a major road collapsed following incessant rains and the traffic diversion was brought into effect to facilitate smooth movement of vehicles, a district official said.

There are reports from Ganiyar village in Mohanlalganj tehsil of Lucknow that an electric pole broke and fell along with the wire following an uprooting of a tree on the main road, the official said, adding that in the same village, a kutcha house partially collapsed but there is no loss of life.

In Lakhimpur Kheri, heavy downpours lashed all eight tehsil areas following which District Magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh ordered closure of all the schools up to class 8.

Amid several urban and rural areas witnessing water logging on the main routes and approach roads due to incessant rains since Sunday night, the Nipun Assessment Test (NAT) scheduled to be held on Monday and Tuesday among all government-run primary and upper primary schools had to be postponed, Lakhimpur Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Pravin Tiwari said.

"The NAT examination in all basic schools would remain suspended on September 11," the BSA said In Unnao, lightning struck at many places leaving 140 sheep dead in Hasanganj tehsil, SDM Hasanganj Naveen Chandra said.

The official of the relief commissioner's office said as many as 19 tehsils of 10 districts have been affected by flood in Ballia, Barabanki, Badaun, Farrukhabad, Kasganj, Kheri, Kushinagar, Mau, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts.

According to the official, 173 villages and a population of 55,982 have been affected.

Shelter homes have been set up but no one has been shifted there and the NDRF and SDRF teams have been deployed in some districts and have been put on high alert, the official said.

Lunch packets and foodgrains are being distributed and vaccination of animals and medical camps are functional, the official said.

Agriculture losses, if any, are being evaluated, the official said, adding that water logging in urban areas has also been reported and efforts are on to clear the water.

No river is presently flowing above the danger level in the state as of now, but Ganga in Bijnor and Son river in Mirzapur (Bansagar dam) have seen a rising trend.