ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Flood toll in UP reaches 30, situation worsens in Assam, Rajasthan

The total casualties in the flood-related incidents of Uttar Pradesh rose to 30 Wednesday, even as the situation continued to deteriorate.

The situation is also worsening in Assam and parts of Rajasthan.

While 870 villages and more than 550,000 people in nine districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh have been affected, the continuous torrents in the last 48 hours left several areas in Assam inundated, with almost all the rivers there overflowing.

The flood-hit districts are Azamgarh, Basti, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Pratapgarh, Sant Kabirnagar, Siddhartnagar and Tehri Garhwal.

The government has established 24 flood control centres and 85 radio centres to monitor relief operations in the state.

In Rajasthan, two children were swept away in a rivulet in Kota town Tuesday.

In Assam, almost all the rivers were in spate, and the mighty Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger level throughout its course. Most of its tributaries -- including the Lohit, Siang, Buridehing, Desang, Dekhow, Kopili, Dhansiri, Pagladiya, Subansiri and Jiabharali and Beki -- were flowing well above the danger level, inundating fresh areas, officials said.

In Dhemaji district, the national highway 52 is still under water near Samarajan, cutting off the road communication between Dhemaji and Lakhimpur. About 450 villages are completely under water in this worst-affected district. Though there has not been any human casualty, more than 600 cattles have been swept away by the flood.

In Rajasthan, a youth was drowned in Bhilwara district. Reports from the state capital said heavy downpour disrupted life in a number of towns in Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Jahalawar, Karauli and Alwar districts in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the weather office has issued a warning against heavy to very heavy rains in a few places in eastern Rajasthan, particularly in Jaipur and Ajmer divisions, in the next 24 hours.

Earlier, two people had died in rain-related mishaps in the state's Bikaner and Sikar districts.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report