Lucknow/PATNA: The flood situation in Uttar Pradesh has taken a turn for the worse, with districts, including Varanasi and Prayagraj, reeling under rising waters of the Ganga River; while in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday directed officials to remain alert as water levels in several rivers have risen due to heavy rainfall during the past 24 hours.
In response to the crisis, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has constituted a high-level ministerial task force, named Team-11, to supervise relief and rescue operations on the ground. He directed all designated ministers to immediately reach their assigned flood-hit districts and stay there, even overnight, to monitor the situation closely.
In Varanasi and Prayagraj, floodwaters have entered over one lakh homes. Cremation grounds are submerged, and boats have replaced vehicles on city roads. Thousands of people in Varanasi have abandoned their homes as the Ganga continues to swell beyond the danger mark. As of 12 noon on Saturday, the water level of the Ganga in Varanasi was recorded at 71.66 meters, 40 centimetres above the danger mark of 71.26 meters.
In Prayagraj’s Govindpur area, a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM)’s vehicle got stuck in floodwaters and had to be pulled out by NDRF and SDRF personnel using a tractor. In the same locality, a local resident ingeniously turned a water tank into a makeshift boat to navigate the rising waters.
Currently, 17 UP districts — including Kanpur Nagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Agra, Auraiya, Chitrakoot, Ballia, Banda, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Chandauli, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat, Hamirpur, Etawah, and Fatehpur — are grappling with the impact of flooding. Relief and rescue operations are underway in full swing, with continuous patrolling by NDRF, SDRF, and PAC personnel.
Floods have caused damage to 343 homes so far, with compensation already distributed to 327 families. Over 4,015 hectares of land has also been affected. Relief supplies are being delivered using 493 boats and motorboats.
Amid the worsening crisis, AAP MP Sanjay Singh shared a video on X, showing a man and a woman wading through chest-deep water to save their newborn child. The man is seen lifting the infant above his head while walking through the flooded area. “This is New India. This is the holy city of Prayagraj, where parents are forced to carry their child through a drain to reach safety,” he captioned the video.
Meanwhile in Bihar, light to moderate rain was recorded in many districts, including Patna, Banka, Muzaffarpur, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Bhojpur, Buxar, Gayaji, Jehanabad, Kaimur, Katihar, Khagaria, Munger, Nalanda and Vaishali since August 2.
An ‘orange’ alert has been issued for several districts for the next 48 hours. Officials from the Water Resources department (WRD) said that continuous rain and inflow from Nepal have led to rivers crossing danger levels. “Almost all rivers are maintaining a rising trend… However, all embankments are safe,” a WRD official said.
During an inspection, the CM reviewed river levels and rainfall data. “The state received good rainfall… with 25 mm or more recorded in 222 blocks,” the Disaster Management department said.