At least 26 persons were killed, including nine in a wall collapse in Lucknow, as heavy rains played havoc in Uttar Pradesh during the last 24 hours.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives and directed officials to provide financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and aid of Rs 2 lakh for the treatment of the injured, the Chief Minister’s Office said in a tweet in Hindi.
Yogi Adityanath also directed the officials to provide the permissible relief amount without delay to the families affected by the rain. He said that immediate financial assistance should be provided to the people whose houses were damaged or animals were harmed.
The chief minister said that in some districts, due to the rains, crops could also be damaged. He asked the officials to conduct a survey in this regard.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Governor Anandiben Patel also expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives due to the collapse of the wall in Dilkusha in Cantonment area of Lucknow district. Praying for peace to the departed soul, they expressed their condolences to the bereaved family members.
According to official figures, nine deaths were reported from Lucknow, five from Unnao, three from Fatehpur, two from Prayagraj and one each from Jhansi, Rae Bareli and Sonbhadra. Besides, one death due to lightning was reported from Kannauj and two due to snake bites from Sonbhadra.
In Lucknow, nine people were killed in a wall collapse in Dilkusha area due to heavy rains, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Piyush Mordia said.
The wall of an army enclave collapsed in the early hours on Friday, the police said. "Some labourers were living in huts outside an army enclave in the Dilkusha area. Owing to heavy overnight rains, the boundary wall of the army enclave collapsed," Mordia revealed.
According to reports, the rescue teams reached the spot at about 3 am. While nine bodies were recovered from the rubble, two people were rescued alive.
The deceased, originally from Jhansi, included Pappu (50), his wife Mankuvar Devi (45), son Pradeep (28), daughter-in-law Reshma (25), granddaughter Naina alias Bharti (1), Dharmendra (28) and his wife Chanda (25). Two injured are in critical condition and are being treated in hospital. Five members of a family were among the dead.
Meanwhile, the Defence public relations officer, while commenting on the Dilkusha incident, said that the contractor had made temporary arrangements for his labourers outside the boundary wall of the area near Dilkusha without the permission of military authorities.
“This temporary arrangement is not an encroachment as it is outside the boundary wall of defence land. The use of this labour for any railway line work is not known to the army and hence cannot be commented upon. The damage to the wall was due to unprecedented rains and water-logging in the area, which unfortunately has resulted in the loss of precious lives which is deeply condoled. The matter is entirely under the jurisdiction of the local police and they are taking appropriate action,” he said.
In Unnao, four people, including two children, died in separate incidents of wall collapse, officials said on Friday.
In Kantha village of the district, three members of a family -- Ankit (20), Ankush (4) and Unnati (6) -- died after a wall of their house collapsed owing to overnight rains, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Narendra Singh said. According to the villagers, the incident took place between 2 am and 3 am when the parents of the deceased had come out to assess the damage caused to their house by rain.
In a similar incident, 66-year-old Bal Govind died in Chandpur Jhalihai village, the official said.
The bodies were sent for autopsy.
In another incident, the roof of a house suddenly collapsed on Friday morning amid heavy rain in Rae Bareli.
A woman. Manju Devi (42 years), three children -- Rajni (6 years), Rajat (10 years) and Rajneesh (two and half years) -- were injured in the accident. They were admitted to the hospital for treatment. The doctors pronounced Rajneesh dead, while the other three injured are undergoing treatment.
Similarly due to heavy rains in New Raiganj under Sipri Bazar police station of Jhansi, a two-storey house collapsed late Thursday night and Rajaram Raikwar, his wife Bhagwati and son Suresh were buried in the rubble. A police team and fire brigade personnel rescued all those trapped in the rubble after hours of effort. They were admitted to the medical college hospital where Suresh died during treatment. After getting information of the incident, District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar and Senior Superintendent of Police Shivhari Meena along with other administrative officers and police team inspected the spot and instructed officials to ensure proper treatment of the injured.
In Kanpur district, a youth drowned in a drain overflowing with rain water at Juhi Khalwa bridge. According to the police, the incident happened late in the night when it was raining. Efforts are on to identify the deceased youth.
According to the Meteorological Department of Uttar Pradesh, the record of the last several years has been broken in the rains that have lashed the state for three days. Water-logging has affected life at many places in Lucknow. Rain water also flooded homes and offices. Road jams were witnessed as trees and electric poles were uprooted at many places. The Met Department issued an alert of similar conditions on Saturday also.