UP faces rain Gods wrath for 5th consecutive day

Lucknow, Aug 19 (UNI) Incessant rainfall lashing most parts of Uttar Pradesh for the last five days has thrown normal life out of gear with rain-related incidents claiming 34 lives so far.

The prominent rivers Yamuna, Sharda, Rapti, Ghaghra were in spate at several districts following the heavy downpour, besides release of 31,550 cusecs water from Narora dam in Bulandshahr yesterday has re-swollen the sacred river Ganga.

Traffic snarls on water-logged roads have become the order of the day and several trains were also running late posing problems for the passengers.

In Gorakhpur, Mahesara bridge over the Rohat river, which connects India from the neighbouring country Nepal, had been closed after it got damaged due to continuous rainfall.

In Basti, river Ghaghra was increasing in volume and posing danger to Vikramjot and Rampur Makdoompur dams in the district.

Meanwhile, reports of collapse of ''kachcha makaan'' were continuously pouring in.

In Gonda, Bahraich and Bareilly, three persons were reportedly buried under the debris of their house, whereas in Shahjahanpur, Gorakhpur, Faizabad, Budaun, Pilibhit, Moradabad, Fatehgarh and Barabanki, two persons succumbed after their house came down unbearing the heavy downpour.

Similarly, one person each died in house collapse incidents at Shravasti, Siddharthnagar, Ballia, Azamgarh, Sant Kabirnagar, Hardoi, Ambedkarnagar, Basti and Ghazipur while facing the wrath of rain Gods during the last five days.

According to Central Water Commission reports, in Ballia, Ganga was flowing 54 cm above the danger mark, whereas Ramganga at Dabri (Shahjahanpur) was at 42 cm above the red mark.

Ghagra was flowing 47 cm, 53 cm and 35 cm above the danger level in Elginbridge, Ayodhya and Turtipar (Basti) respectively, while river Sharda was 21 cm and 46 cm above the red mark at Shardanagar and Paliyakala respectively.

The 'city of Nawab' received spells of shower in the last 24 hours however, thick clouds continued to hover around the city today also.

In the last 24 hours, Balrampur received 119 mm rainfall, Bansi 90 mm and Bardaghat (Gorakhpur) 112 mm, Siddharthnagar 9.6 mm, Uska Bazar 79.4 mm, Kannuaj 83.4 mm, Fatehgarh 52.4 mm, Kanpur (dehat) 27.4 mm, Fafamau (Allahabad) 42.4 mm, Etawah 37 mm, Shahjahanpur 26.2 mm, whereas Varanasi, Mirzapur, Ballia received 9 mm each, Central Water Commission said.

Meanwhile, reports of water-borne diseases gripping some districts were received. In Kanpur, several malaria patients had been admitted to city hospitals.

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