Ten dead, 117 houses damaged as Uttar Pradesh records 19 times normal rain

Ten people were killed and 17 injured in rain-related incidents across Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, officials said, as 63 districts of the state recorded above-normal rainfall and parts of central and Terai Uttar Pradesh faced a light to moderate risk of flash floods.

Five of the deaths were caused by the collapse of mud walls, while five other people died and 14 were injured when strong winds and heavy rain uprooted trees, according to police. Casualties were reported from Lakhimpur Kheri, Amethi, Barabanki and Gorakhpur districts.

Officials said the state received about 19 times its normal rainfall in the 24 hours preceding Saturday, damaging standing crops and 117 houses. Data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed that Lucknow recorded 125.8 mm of rain in the 21 hours ending Saturday morning. Farrukhabad received 200 times its normal rainfall, Kanpur Nagar 160 times, and Kannauj, Kanpur Dehat and Hardoi 130 times their normal rainfall.

In Gorakhpur district, four people were killed and 14 injured in incidents involving uprooted trees. In Gajarhiya Tola of Lakshmipur II village under Campierganj block, an old sal tree fell on a hut around 4 pm, killing Subhash (55), Gyanmati Devi (45) and Kishan Prajapati (13). Two others, Rammilan and Sirjavati, sustained serious injuries. Several villagers had taken shelter in the hut when the tree came down. Local residents cleared the debris and rescued the injured, and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and police officials reached the spot to supervise relief operations.

In a separate incident in the Gagaha area, a mahua tree fell on Bhim Kumar Vishwakarma near Siyar Mod, killing him on the spot. In Jatepur Dakshini locality, a pakad tree around 80 years old fell on a house in Kali Mandir Gali, injuring four people — Suresh, Subhash, Munni and Chunni. About 12 people were inside the house at the time. The tree also brought down electricity poles, disrupting power supply; the supply was disconnected before rescue work began.

District Magistrate Deepak Meena and Senior Superintendent of Police Kaustubh visited the district hospital to enquire about the injured. Relief and restoration work was continuing, officials said.

In Lucknow, three members of a family were injured when the wall of a mud house collapsed in Chaina village. They were rescued and given medical treatment. In Kannauj, 20 kutcha houses were damaged by incessant rain, Additional District Magistrate Devendra Singh said, adding that no deaths had been reported in the district.

The IMD had forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at several places in eastern Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, with rain and thundershowers likely at several places on Sunday. A depression over northeast Madhya Pradesh and adjoining north Chhattisgarh was moving north-northwestwards towards southeast Uttar Pradesh. At 5.30 am on Saturday, it was centred about 230 km south of Prayagraj.

The system was expected to remain a depression until Saturday evening before weakening into a well-marked low-pressure area over the next 12 hours, the IMD said. The weather office warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall across several parts of the state, with isolated extremely heavy rainfall possible in the central Terai region. Some watersheds in central and Terai Uttar Pradesh faced a light to moderate risk of flash floods over the next 24 hours.

The intense rainfall caused waterlogging and traffic disruption in several areas, and residents of low-lying localities faced difficulties as the rain continued through the night. "Several roads were waterlogged in the morning. Movement became difficult in many places," a local resident, Praveen Singh, said. Another resident said strong winds accompanying the rain had added to the difficulties, forcing people to take shelter at several places.

In Ayodhya, rain and strong winds affected movement around Ram Path, the Ram temple, Hanumangarhi, Kanak Bhawan and the Saryu area.