The Hindu : Army alerted in wake of U.P. floods

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 11, 2003

Other States

Other States - Uttar Pradesh

Army alerted in wake of U.P. floods

Lucknow Sept. 10. The flood situation in eastern Uttar Pradesh turned critical today as the overflowing Ganga and Ghagra rivers inundated hundreds of villages in Ballia and nearby districts of Ghazipur, Siddharthanagar, Deoria and Varanasi even as the Army has been put on alert for relief operations.

The flood situation in the Bundelkand districts of Chitrakoot and Banda and in Sonebhadra district is also grave since yesterday. More than 140 people have lost their lives so far in the floods, according to official statistics.

Flood control office sources told UNI here that army contingent had been put on alert to be ready for the rescue and relief works. "Army helicopters would also be pressed into service for distributing food packets to the population in the flood affected areas,'' sources said.

River Ganga is flowing above the danger level all through its course in eastern U.P. and the situation of the Ghagra river is also the same.

A report from Ballia said that the situation had worsened after the Tulsipur Srinagar barrage developed cracks leading to inundation of more than 100 villages. Road links with the district headquarters and some blocks have been snapped.

Heavy rains and opening of the dam gates of Obra and Rihand had increased the risk of flood in Banda, Chitrakoot, Varanasi and Sonebhadra districts in the State.

The Central Water Commission said after the opening of the gates of the two dams, over a dozen villages in Sonebhadra were under the grip of flood even as the district administration warned the residents to shift to safer places.

Meanwhile, over 500 villages in the state continue to be flooded following heavy rains for the past few days.

Sources said as many as 100 deer had reportedly drowned due to rise in the water level in river Mandakini in Chitrakoot while many tourists were stranded in Dharamshalas. Over 200 villages in the district are submerged.

Reports from Banda said over 68 villages in the district were flooded due to an increase in water level of the river Kane.

The water level of river Ganga has started rising again due to heavy rainfall during the last two days. Sources in Varanasi said floods were affecting the Kharif crop while the residents in adjoining villages were shifting to safer places.

The state government has established over 450 flood relief centres and over five lakh persons had been shifted to safe accommodations. Over 17 lakh people in 2,000 villages under 24 districts were affected with flood out of which 500 villages are submerged.

The Met office today said normal rainfall occurred at most places in the state while heavy rains were received in the catchment areas of most of the major rivers.

Some places in the State were likely to receive light-to-medium thundershowers during the next 24 hours, the Met office said.

A Central Water Commission report today said the Ganga was flowing above the danger mark at Ghazipur and Ballia and was expected to rise futher till tomorrow morning.

The river was rising throughout its course from Allahabad to Ballia following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas. The water level at Ankimghat, Kanpur and Dalmau of Ganga were also near the red mark, the report said.

River Ghaghara had crossed the danger level at Turtipar while river Betwa had gone up by over three meters of the red mark.

The report said river Yamuna was rising from Kalpi to Allahabad and if the trend continued, it might cross the danger level in the next couple of days.

The rainfall recorded during the last 24 hours was 101.4 mm at Kannauj, 140 mm at Auraiya, 187 mm at Kalpi, 101 mm at Banda and 84 mm at Hamirpur.

Ganga water enters Patna

With river Ganga flowing above the danger mark all along its course in Bihar, the flood water entered some parts of the state capital causing panic among the residents of Durja, Digha and Danapur late last night. The district administration claimed that water of the Ganga entered in to these localities due to backflow drain water as the river was in spate.

Patna District Magistrate, Deepak Prasad, told PTI that there was no need for panic as the administration was fully prepared to meet any eventuality.

He said the flood control cell was on maximum alert and embankment along the river in Patna was safe. Magistrates with the engineers of flood control department were maintaining vigil on the embankment and Patna-Danapur and Patna-Bakhtiyarpur road.

A Bhagalpur report said the rising level of Ganga was playing havoc in the rural areas and had inundated several villages of seven blocks of Naugchaia and Kahalgaon sub-divisions. The Ganga had overtopped its banks at several places between Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon on NH 80 snapping road communication, District Magistrate K Ramaiya said.

Five major rivers of the state -- Ganga, Kosi, Sone, Burhigandak and Ghagra were flowing above the danger mark and were likely to rise further, Central Water Commission said.

The meteorological department has forecast moderate to heavy rains in the catchment areas of river Sone and light to normal rains in the upper catchment areas of other rivers. -- PTI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News Update

Stories in this Section

Army alerted in wake of U.P. floods

Mulayam meets Sonia, invites Cong. to join U.P. Govt.

Cases filed during Mayawati rule to be probed