Rescue and relief operations picked up pace in flood-hit Bihar following improvement in weather, while light to moderate showers lashed several districts in Uttar Pradesh, even as the death toll in rain-related incidents in the country in last one week rose to 157.
Seven fresh deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh in incidents like drowning and lightning. So far 111 people have died since September 25 in the state where incessant rains have created flood-like situation in eastern districts.
Two persons died in Prayagraj and one each in Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Firozabad, Bareilly and Siddhartnagar in rain-battered Uttar Pradesh.
The state government informed that the Ganga was flowing above the danger mark at Ghazipur and Ballia. The Kwano river was also flowing above the danger level at Chandradeepghat in Gonda, it said.
In Bihar, the death toll in rain-related incidents mounted to 30 even as relief and rescue operations gathered momentum with improved weather conditions and Centre’s assistance.
In Nawada district, about 110 km from Bihar capital Patna, the bodies of two men who were swept by strong current in a river two days ago were fished out by personnel involved in rescue operations Tuesday morning.
Residents of marooned Patna localities such as Hanuman Nagar, Rajendra Nagar and Kankar Bagh woke up to roars of Indian Air Force helicopters hovering in the sky with food and other relief material.
Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy called flood situation in Bihar “serious” and assured all help to the state.
Reddy said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is working closely with the Bihar government, and other paramilitary forces are also ready to move if needed.
The Centre has dispatched 20 NDRF teams, comprising about 900 rescue persons, and pressed into service IAF helicopters to help flood-hit people in the state.
Six of the teams were deployed in Patna, which has witnessed very heavy rains and water logging over the past three days.
Two helicopters of the Indian Air Force were also deployed in rescue and relief operations.
The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed the flood situation in Bihar, where 16 districts have been affected by the deluge.
The Bihar government has informed the NCMC that due to extremely heavy rainfall in the state, along with high levels of water in the rivers, there has been flooding in 16 districts.
The NDRF, which has been engaged in relief and rehabilitation since Sunday while Patna was still being pounded by heavy rains, stepped up its efforts on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar surveyed the Shri Krishna Memorial auditorium which has been converted into a storehouse for relief material.
His deputy Sushil Kumar Modi inspected the sump houses which are working overtime to flush out waters from the inundated localities.
Heavy rains and discharge of water through sump houses has caused water levels in the Ganges and its tributary Punpun to rise above the danger mark, though so far there have been no reports of the sump houses encountering problem of reverse flow.
