Overflowing rivers have been wreaking havoc in several districts of Uttar Pradesh, inundating hundreds of villages and affecting lakhs of people, besides claiming around two dozen lives.
All the major rivers, including the Ganges, Yamuna, Ghaghra, Rapti, Varuna, Saryu and Ken, were flowing well above the danger mark, official sources said here on Monday.
The situation was particularly alarming in the eastern UP districts of Ballia and Ghazipur. In Ballia district, about 60 villages have been completely cut off from the district headquarters, affecting over 75,000 people as water from the rampaging Ganga and Ghaghra entered their homes.
Reports said the affected people have been sleeping on the roofs of their homes. “We are short of food and water...we are not able to save our livestock,” said a resident of Nauranga Bhual Chapra village, about 40 km from the district headquarters.
Road, rail services hit
Movement of vehicular traffic on National Highway 31 came to a halt after flood waters submerged the roads near Ramgarh village in Ballia, reports said. Train services on the Ballia-Chapra section of the North Eastern Railways were also suspended for several hours after tracks were submerged under the flood waters.
In Ghazipur district, about 300 kilometres from here, around 100 villages have been affected by the flood.
The situation in Varanasi, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Banda and some other districts was also alarming, reports said, adding that in the holy town of Varanasi, the ghats were completely submerged under the waters from the overflowing Ganga.
In Allahabad, flood waters from the Ganga and Yamuna had entered several residential areas, forcing people to leave their homes and take shelter at safer places.