Lucknow, Sept 14: Flood situation remained grim as swollen rivers and incessant rains continued to play havoc in eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh with five more deaths taking the toll to 148, official sources said here today. Unofficial sources, however, claimed that over 200 people have died in floods so far.

All the major rivers of the state including Ganga, Gandhak, Sharda, Gomati and Yamuna are in spate, a press release issued by the flood control officer said here.


Shivpal Singh Yadav, a minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, today carried out an aerial survey of the flood affected areas. Overflowing Ganga has submerged a large swath in Ballia. Over 250 villages of the district are badly affected. People are being shifted to safer places, a spokesman at the relief commissioner's officer told a news agency here today.

Train services and road traffic have been affected in eastern parts of the state. Speed cautions have been issued for trains particularly in Varanasi, Mirzapur, Allahabad and Ballia, he said.

Army has been deployed in Ballia to assist the rescue and relief operation. Two embankments in Ballia have been washed away affecting over two dozen villages, the spokesman said. He said that the breach in the embankment in Azamgarh district was plugged with the help of army.

Bureau Report