850 prisoners shifted from UP’s Ballia jail after water-logging  

Nearly 850 prisoners from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia District Jail have been shifted to jails in the neighbouring districts following heavy water-logging inside the barracks after incessant rains since Wednesday.

According to Ballia District Magistrate Bhavani Singh Khangaraut, "Water logging from five inches to one foot has been reported from all the barracks of the district jail. In view of the ground realities of the jail, the matter was reported to state government and prison department. We have received approval of authorities concerned to shift 450 prisoners to Azamgarh jail. Approval for shifting more prisoners to Mau and Ambedkar Nagar jails is awaited."

Ballia authorities started shifting the prisoners after getting adequate police force on Monday morning. The Ballia District Jail has a capacity of 350 inmates, but is overcrowded with 850 prisoners at present.

The jail building is in a dilapidated condition and officials said water-logging inside it is not new. The jail is located in a low lying area while the height of roads in the area has increased by several feet in recent years.

Meanwhile, heavy rains also led to land cave-in on tracks between Ballia and Bansdih stations severely disrupting rail traffic on Ballia-Chhapra division on Sunday. As many as seven trains were cancelled and five were diverted and one train was short terminated, said Mahesh Gupta, Public Relations Officer - Varanasi, North Eastern Railways.

Trains moving on up and down lines were stopped at different railway stations. Thousands of passengers were stranded with no information regarding their onward journey.

Incessant rain also affected track maintenance and repair due to which trains from Patna in Bihar have been diverted on the Gaya route since Saturday.