174 dead, 1.6 million displaced in UP floods

Lucknow, July 30 (IANS) At least 174 people were killed and 1.6 million people got displaced as the flood situation remained grim in Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.

Many rvers, including the Ganga, the Yamuna, Ram Ganga, Sharda, Rapti, Ghaghra and Gomti, are in spate. According to the relief commissioner's office, nearly one million hectare of cultivable land has been destroyed and 299 livestock killed in 15 districts. 

Heavy rain in several districts has compounded the problem. 

Initially, the state's western part bore the brunt of floods but now the rivers are causing havoc in eastern part as well, an official said. 

The Kuaono river has wrecked havoc in Basti, Sant Kabeernagar and Gorakhpur districts, while the Ganga is in fury in Kanpur, Rae Bareilly, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Ghazipur districts.

The Ram Ganga has flooded Bijnore and parts of Moradabad, while the Yamuna river submerged vast expanses in Etawah, Muzaffarnagar, Jalaun, Auraiyya, Baghpat and Banda. 

Other rivers like the Betwa, Gomti, Sharda and Ghaghra have caused widespread destruction in Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun and Hamirpur, Lucknow, Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich districts, the official said.