India – Deadly Flooding in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

by in Asia, News

Unusually late monsoon rainfall has caused severe flooding in northern India, where over 120 people have died in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Meanwhile officials have confirmed that the death toll of last week’s flood disaster in Pune, Maharashtra, now stands at 21, with a further 5 people still missing.

Uttar Pradesh

In Uttar Pradesh, the government said that 93 people have died since Thursday 26 September, 2019. Media reported that many of the deaths were a result of house collapses.

The state has endured heavy rainfall over the last few days causing rivers to rise. IANS news agency reported that Prayagraj received 102.2mm of rain on 28 September, and Varanasi received 84.2mm of rain. IANS said that such amounts are “much higher than what is usually received at this time of the year.”

The Ganga at Ballia, Ghazipur is above the danger mark (63.10 metres), standing at 63.26m as of 29 September. The Ghagra river at Elgin Bridge, Barabanki district, stood at 105.47m as of 29 September, where the danger mark is 106.07m.

India’s Central Water Commission (CWC) said on 29 September that extremely heavy rains are occurring in East Uttar Pradesh in the districts of Lucknow, Kanpur, Rae-Bareilly (Raebareli), Jaunpur in the Gomti river basin. The Sei river at Rae-Bareilly and Gomti river at Jaunpur have risen sharply and are flowing in “Above Normal Flood Situation” with a rising trend and are likely to rise further for another 24 hours, CWC added.

Flooding has caused chaos in the state, disrupting power supply, roads, railways, schools and healthcare facilities.

According to reports by India’s National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), flooding has affected the districts of Faizabad, Kushinagar, Gonda, Barabanki, Varanasi, Allahabad, Ghazipur, Ballia, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Hamirpur and Mirzapur.

Around 580,000 people have been affected and 48,000 evacuated. Seven teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to affected areas and have rescued around 3,000 people.

Bihar

In Bihar, heavy rains and floods have claimed 29 lives, according to Bihar State Disaster Management Authority. NERC reported that recent flooding had affected 1.554 million people in the state.

The rivers Burhi Gandak, Bagmati, Ganga, Kosi and Sone are all above danger levels according to NERC, with further heavy rain expected. In 24 hours to 29 September, Rosera recorded 290mm of rain and Bihpur and Koilwar both 270mm.

According to a CWC report of 29 September, the Kosi at Baltara, Khangaria stood at 34.9m (danger is 33.85m). The level of the Ganga at Bhagalpur was 34.24m (danger is 33.68m) and the Ganga at Patna Gandhighat was at 49.42m (danger 48.6m). The Sone river at Maner, Patna district, stood at 52.34m (danger 52m)

Nineteen teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to affected areas. Teams from the Indian Air Force have also been deployed.

The city of Patna and the surrounding district has been particularly badly affected. According to NERC, flooding has also affected areas of Buxar, Bhojpur, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Munger, Katihar and Saran districts.

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