A cloudburst in Nepal aggravated flood situation in Uttar Pradesh as swirling water of major rivers in eastern UP inundated a large swathe of farmland in more than 884 villages spread over in nine districts of the State. It took lives of 28 people.
More than 4 lakh people in these villages with over one lakh hectare of agricultural land are affected in the flash floods. The situation in is most critical in Bahriach district, where 14 people lost their lives.
“Flood situation is grim in many parts of Uttar Pradesh with Bahraich being the worst affected where over 2,000 houses have been damaged. Paramilitary has been pushed into service and the Army is on standby,” Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said.
A team of NDRF has been rushed from Varanasi to Bahriach. Around 4,800 people were rescued by the PAC and NDRF teams, Ranjan said. “Medical teams have been rushed to Bahriach while PAC has deployed 19 motorboats and 378 boats to rescue the affected,” he said.
District authorities of Bahriach have demanded Rs 100 crore to meet the relief work, while the State Government has sanctioned Rs 3.5 crores so far. The UP Government has sanctioned Rs 51 crores for the flood relief works in the State.
The State Government has announced a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh to the families of the deceased, while the injured will receive between Rs 62,000 and Rs 43,000. Compensation for irrigated agriculture land would be Rs 9,000 per hectare, while for non-irrigated land it would be Rs 4,500 per hectare. Ex-gratia payment for house collapse would be Rs 70,000 for pucca house and Rs 40,000 for each thatched house.
Ranjan said that rivers like Rapti and Ghaghra are overflowing because of excess release of water from Nepal. While the Rapti is over flowing because authorities in
Bhalubang, Bhairahwa and Kusum barrages in Nepal released excess water, Ghagra has swollen due to release of flood waters from Chisapani barrage in Nepal.
The other terai rivers in spate are Saryu and Sharda. Ranjan added that the flood situation is critical in Sharvasti district where around 60,000 people in 117 villages of 2 tehsils were affected in the flash floods. Two deaths have been reported in the floods so far.
In Sitapur, the situation is serious where 107 villages of three tehsils were marooned affecting over 99,000 people. Four deaths were reported from the district. On the other hand, the water level in Balrampur district is increasing where 76 villages of three tehsils were affected by the floods. Around 660 people have been rescued by the PAC. In lakhimpur Kheri district, 157 villages of 5 tehsils were affected with reports of seven deaths so far.