Amidst Met office forecast of rain or thundershowers at many places over eastern UP and at a few places over the western part of the state over the next 24 hours, as many as 666 villages have been affected by floods across 17 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
According to the data released by the UP relief commissioner, major rivers are flowing above the danger mark at some places in the state. The Sharda river at Palia Kalan in Lakhimpur Kheri, the Saryu at Elgin Bridge in Barabanki and Ayodhya and Turtipar in Ballia , and the Rapti at Birdghat in Gorakhpur are flowing above the red mark.
Relief Commissioner Sanjay Goyal said 17 districts in the state were now flood-affected.
A total of 666 villages have been hit, out of which 446 have been marooned.
The districts affected by the floods are Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Ballia, Balrampur, Barabanki, Basti, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mau, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj and Sitapur.
Goyal said seepage in an embankment on Rapti river was reported from Gorakhpur and there were reports of land erosion in an embankment in Mau district. He added that repair work was underway and the situation was being monitored.
In Mau, around 5,000 families have been affected and 20 families were evacuated from three marooned villages, the official said.
He said there was no danger to embankments and bridges in other parts of the state.
Sixteen teams of NDRF, SDRF and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed for search and rescue works. Besides, 219 shelters have been set up and 983 boats deployed.
Goyal said 712 ‘flood chowkis had been set up and 249 medical teams had been deployed. He said ration kits and food packets were being distributed among the affected people.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had issued directives to maintain strict vigil on all embankments and bridges and to take steps to check soil erosion, the official said.
The chief minister had also asked for taking necessary steps to check the outbreak of diseases and to ensure the availability of medicines to deal with them, he added.
