Monsoon rains triggered house collapses and inundated a wide swath of land in Uttar Pradesh killing 70 persons in last four days as Met officials have predicted more rains in next 48 hours.
State relief commission office said that the casualties were reported from 35 districts mostly in Western UP. Eleven deaths have been reported in Saharanpur , followed by eight in Meerut, six in Agra, four each in Mainpur and Kasganj and two each in Bareilly, Bulandshahr , Moradabad, and Amroha while one death was reported each in other districts.
In last four days 148 people have also been injured as 408 cases of house collapses have been reported across the country.
Officials said that a total of Rs 1.56 crore have been distributed to the affected families including the mm maximum of Rs 1.48 crore to the families of the deceased.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to take up rescue and relief operations in rain-affected areas. The CM has directed the officials to identify the old and dilapidated buildings and vacate them so to prevent further deaths in the state.
Due to heavy rains, normal life in the state has been affected particularly in western UP. Most of the schools have been closed while water logging and caving of roads have affected the vehicular traffic in several cities.
Yogi directed District Magistrates of affected-areas to immediately provide necessary monetary help in cases of house collapse or any other eventuality. Directions were also issued for taking necessary steps to ensure proper treatment of the injured and warned that no laxity would be tolerated in relief works.
The CM has ordered Rs four lakh each as compensation for the families of the deceased in the rain related incidents. The government was also providing up to Rs 59,000 to the injured while for repairing a damaged house, the government provide upto Rs 95,000 for a full damaged house, upto Rs 5200 for a partial damage and Rs 4,700 for damage of a hatched house during the rains.
He also directed officials that repair work causing public inconvenience be taken up on a top priority basis and officials should keep a tab on weather and issue timely alerts so that loss of human lives or property could be averted.
Meanwhile, the MET office said that south-west monsoon was ‘active’ over entire UP but ‘vigorous’ over the western part of the state causing moderate to heavy rains and thundershowers at most places.
Weather official said that the rains would continue in the state for the next 48 hours.