Torrential rain has created havoc in Uttar Pradesh throwing normal life out of gear killing 22 people in last 24 hours with water level in all major rivers rising alarmingly forcing district administration to sound alert.
“At least 22 people have been killed in separate incidents due to heavy rains in the state during the past 24 hours. Several houses have been razed due to rains and district authorities have sounding high alert,” an official said here on Sunday.
Four deaths were reported from Aligharh where an old two-storied house collapsed in Kot area, while one person was killed and three others were injured in a building collapse in Meerganj area of Bareilly last night.
Two deaths each were reported from Badaun ,Hadoi and Sitapur due to house collapse while death each were reported from Jaunpur, Shahjahanpur, Azamgarh, Mau, Chandauli,, Mirzapur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Barabanki, Ayodhya and Unnao.
In Kanpur, a three-storied house collapsed on Sunday morning in Collectorganj police station area in which seven people were injured.
Met officials say that widespread rains occurred during the past 24 hours in the state with Sidharthnagar recording 117.32 mm rainfall, Balrampur 102.81 mm, Barabanki 65.4 mm, Basti, 78.9 mm, Ayodhya 36.6 mm and lakhimpur Kheri 19.8. Bareilly too recorded 117.2 mm of rainfalls, Allahabad 60.6 mm and lucknow 50.3 mm.
According to Meteorological Department, maximum of 170mm rain was received in Hardoi while Moradabad and Shahjahanpur had witnessed 150 and 140 mm rainsfall respectively. The MET office also predicted heavy rainfall in next 24 hours at isolated places in western Uttar Pradesh.
Major rivers in the state were also rising due to heavy rains. The river Sharda is flowing above danger mark in Paliakalan (lakhimpur) while Ghagra river is flowing close to danger mark at Elgin Bride (Barabanki). River Ganga is also rising in Kanpur, Dalmau (Raebareli), Mirzapur and Varanasi while Yamuna is on rise in Auraiya and Hamirpur while Ghagra is rising in Ayodhya and Turtipar (Ballia).
In Gonda, authorities have alerted all the 17 flood chowkis in view of the rising rivers.
Road and rail traffic in the state was also affected due to the rains as at several places, uprooted trees have blocked the rail and roads. low-lying areas of the cities were waterlogged while areas near the rivers were inundated by the rising rivers.