The unseasonal rains and dust storm that lashed the state late Wednesday night claimed the lives of five persons besides causing extensive damage to property. A day after, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instructed respective district magistrates to provide immediate relief to the affected people.
In a statement released in Lucknow on Thursday morning, Yogi told officials to immediately provide financial assistance of Rs. 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased. Also, district magistrates were directed to assess the damage on a priority and disburse compensation without delay. He forewarned officials against any laxity with regards to the relief work.
Late on Wednesday night, unseasonal rains and hailstorms struck several areas of the state. Beside bringing down mercury level, the weather variation claimed five lives and caused large scale damage to standing crops in several districts especially in eastern UP. Many temporary houses were also damaged due to the rains.
A government spokesman confirmed on Thursday morning that while two deaths were reported from Ayodhya, one each died in Lakhimpur Kheri, Gonda and Ferozabad respectively.
Meanwhile, the Met department confirmed 3 centimeters of rains in Lucknow, Barabanki, Gonda and Sitapur while 2 centimeters rains were reported from Elgin Bridge (Barabanki), Maharajganj, Ballia, Shrawasti, Unnao, Bareilly and Moradabad.
During the last 24 hours, Banda remained the hottest district in the state recording 39.8 celsius temperature. The Met department predicted strong winds and even lightning in some areas of the state in the next 24-hours.