Over 570 UP villages flood-hit following incessant rains

More than 570 villages of Uttar Pradesh have been hit by floods following incessant downpour in most parts of the state since Sunday, officials said Monday. Most districts in the flood-hit areas have received 25 to 30 mm rainfall in the last one day and the rivers are in spate in these areas, leading to flooding of villages. Regional met director J.P. Gupta told IANS that there was a low pressure over eastern Uttar Pradesh and in such conditions more rains would come in this week. Teams of the provincial armed constabulary (PAC), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other wings of the state police have been pressed into service to evacuate people to safer places. In eastern UP, rivers like Boodhi Rapti, Ghaghra and Sharda are flowing above the danger level at many places and a bridge near Chowki Didai on the Siddharthanagar-Basti national highway has been washed away by the Jamuar Nala. The regional met office has predicted continued rains in most parts of the state over the next two days, with "very heavy rains" in the eastern parts of the state. The state machinery has been put on high alert in 12 districts of this region with the possibility of river waters entering new areas in the next day or two. The maximum battering in the last one day was taken by Basti (190 mm), Sant Kabeernagar (170 mm), Gorakhpur (144.8 mm) and Lakhimpur Kheri (134 mm). Rains continued to drench the state capital with the month of June being declared the wettest month in the last one decade. The maximum temperature came down to 25.9 degrees, which is well over 10 degrees down the normal temperature in this part of the year.   IANS