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The torrential rains that have been continuing for the last 72 hours in most parts of Uttar Pradesh and stormy winds blowing at a speed of 60 to 70 kilometers per hour have caused severe devastation. This monsoon outbreak, which started late on Friday night, proved fatal in every corner of the state by Saturday evening. So far, 42 people have died prematurely due to the collapse of mud houses, lightning strikes, uprooting of huge trees and breaking of electric poles in various districts of the state, while dozens of citizens are seriously injured and admitted in hospitals. The worst tragedy has been witnessed in the areas of Awadh and Central UP, where 23 civilians have lost their lives in the Awadh region alone.
Apart from this, the death of eight people in Bundelkhand and Central Uttar Pradesh, eight in Gorakhpur-Basti division, two in Varanasi division and one in Braj region has been officially confirmed. Due to continuous rains in the state, hundreds of kutcha houses have been razed to the ground and dozens of cattle have been buried under the debris and are doomed to death. The water level of most of the major rivers of the state is rising rapidly and flooding of low lying areas in rural areas has created a flood-like disaster. In view of the situation, the Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red and orange alert and has issued a strict warning to the citizens not to come out of their homes without essential work.
This havoc of nature has caused maximum tears of blood in the districts of Awadh. Rain coupled with stormy winds caused havoc in Bahraich district, where a total of five deaths were recorded. Four people, including two in Kaiserganj tehsil area, one in Nanpara and a trainee recruit constable in Bahraich Kotwali Dehat area, became victims of fatal accidents, while an innocent child lost his life after getting buried under a mud wall. Due to the uprooting of thousands of trees and hundreds of electric poles across Bahraich, the entire district has been plunged into darkness and a blackout-like situation has arisen. Many vehicles have met with accidents after hitting trees that have fallen on the roads.
In Hargaon and Mahmudabad development blocks of Sitapur district also, four people, including elderly people and children, died in tragic accidents due to the collapse of walls of kutcha houses amid rains. On the other hand, in Ramnagari Ayodhya, four people died after huge trees fell at different places due to the storm. A 67-year-old elderly man in Rudauli, a seven-year-old innocent boy in Amaniganj and a young passerby in Mawai got hit by a tree. Half a dozen people traveling in the vehicle were left bleeding after a heavy tree fell on a moving car in Purakalandar police station area, who have been admitted to the district hospital.
Nature also wreaked havoc in Fatehpur, Ramsanehighat and Mohammadpur Khala areas of Barabanki district, where three people including a woman stopped breathing. In Sardarganj of Fatehpur, a 40-year-old woman died after being buried under the debris of a wall and in Garhi village of Ramsanehighat, an elderly man died after a tree fell on him. A hard-working young man returning home after selling milk in Mohammadpur Khala lost his life after falling under a tree that suddenly fell on the way. Due to rain in the last 72 hours in Balrampur, 11 houses collapsed and two people died. A huge tree branch fell on two bike-riding cousins, Imran (35) and Khalid (33), near Rajapur Murawan in Gonda’s Dhanepur area, killing both of them on the spot. In Amethi, a woman died due to wall collapse and a young man died due to electrocution, while in Sonava area of Shravasti, one person died and four others were seriously injured when a huge sycamore tree fell on a thatched house.
This time the clouds created such a havoc on the dry land of Bundelkhand that life completely got derailed. A total of eight people, including an innocent child, lost their lives in rain-related accidents in the districts of Bundelkhand and Central Uttar Pradesh. Maximum three people died untimely in Hamirpur district. Along with this, one person each has died in wall collapse and waterlogging accidents in Mahoba, Banda, Hardoi, Auraiya and Fatehpur districts. A major accident was averted in Orai Jalaun when a huge tree fell on a sleeper bus loaded with passengers on the road; However, it was fortunate that all the passengers on the bus had a narrow escape.
In rural areas, more than three dozen cattle have died after being buried under the debris of kutcha goths and walls, causing huge economic loss to poor farmers. The rising water level of Yamuna and Betwa in the low-lying areas of Hamirpur and Banda has increased the heartbeats of the villagers. District administrations have activated relief camps in the affected areas and revenue teams have been given strict instructions to assess the damage.
The inclement weather has also caused widespread damage in Western Uttar Pradesh and Braj Mandal. One person died after being buried under the debris after a kutcha house collapsed in Dannahar, Mainpuri, while six members of the family were seriously injured. Due to the collapse of more than 100 electric poles in Mainpuri, the power supply to rural areas has completely collapsed. Lanterns of two houses suddenly collapsed in Dholna, Kasganj, where sleeping people barely saved their lives by running away. A woman was injured when a wall collapsed in Firozabad’s Jasrana, while in Etah, Agra and Mathura, intermittent rains along with strong winds throughout the day dropped the mercury and created waterlogging on the roads.
Cyclone-like conditions persisted in the religious city of Varanasi (Kashi) since late Friday night. In Banaras in the morning, a storm with a speed of 68 kilometers per hour and 19.8 mm of rain exposed the systems from the city to the countryside. Two people died after trees and dilapidated walls fell in the cantonment area and rural areas. Due to falling of 11 KV high tension wires and poles at several major intersections, electricity in many sub-centres of the city remained disrupted for several hours. Due to continuous rain, the maximum temperature dropped to 27 degrees and minimum to 23 degrees Celsius, which brought relief from the humidity but waterlogging turned the roads into ponds.
In Gorakhpur and Basti divisions of Purvanchal also, the change in weather has caused huge devastation. Amidst the continuous intermittent rains for the last three days, a strong storm on Saturday increased the pace of destruction. Eight people died prematurely and three were seriously injured in separate rain-related accidents in both the divisions. Four people lost their lives due to falling of trees during the storm in Gorakhpur district, out of which the condition of two is still critical in the medical college.
In a village in Gorakhpur, an innocent child got burnt to death on the spot after coming in contact with a live electric wire that was broken on the ground due to rain. A tree suddenly fell on a Nagar Panchayat sweeper of Basti, who was going on a bike in Sant Kabir Nagar, due to which he died tragically. In Basti district too, an elderly man died after being buried under the debris while sleeping due to the collapse of a mud wall, while a village woman died due to electrocution in an electric pole. The administration has given instructions to immediately start the process of providing ex-gratia amount from the Disaster Relief Fund to the dependents of the deceased.