Uttar Pradesh: Disaster relief officials continue rescue ops in flood-hit Balrampur villages

Balrampur: Villagers of the flood-affected areas in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur are facing problems after a flash flood hit parts of the district due to incessant heavy rainfall in the area.
"The water level continued to be above danger level", officials said on Monday. Over 200 villages in the Balrampur district were affected in the flood due to which that forced vehicles to stand in long queues at the National Highway-730.
The flood situation has led to water reaching a height of three feet on the NH-730. After this, the district administration stopped movement of vehicles leading to long queues of trucks and other vehicles on the highway.
More than 200 villages have been affected by the flood so far affecting thousands of people. The name of the affected villages includes Jagtapur, Panditpurva, Jhovahna, Kalandarpur, Gangapur, Kodari, Lalpur, Phagunia, Jogiya Kalan, Lal Nagar, Durgapur, and Sherpur.
According to officials, "Rapti river is flowing 130 cm above the danger level. A team of NDRF has been called for the flood victims, which is engaged in taking the flood victims to safe places.
District magistrate (DM) Mahendra Kumar told ANI that the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has been called to Balrampur for the relief work. He also appealed to the people not to wait for the water to rise further and reach the shelter camps as early as possible.
"The water level of the flood is rising. Boats have been deployed in flood-affected areas", he added.
As per reports, around 80,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed by the floods so far. Upon this, electricity loss has further worsened the condition of affected people. Thousands of people stand affected by the floods and are forced to sit on the roofs of their houses. They have also contacted the district administration for food and other help.
Not just the rural areas, the flood has also entered the urban areas. It has led to the submergence of many neighbourhoods in water. Many colonies like the Civil Line in the One India Mall and Shyam Bihar colony have also got submerged in water.
In the Balrampur-Bahraich Marg, water has risen to two feet, after which many of the residents are compelled to use boats for moving the items from their shops.
The administration informed that in another incident, two young people were washed away by the floods while crossing the deep in the Lalia area.
Former Minister SP Yadav's residence Jharkhandi Mandir has also got submerged in water.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Palturam has also instructed the district administration to be on a war footing regarding the relief work. (ANI)