Life disrupted in rain battered UP

Lucknow, July 26 (IANS) A state of high alert has been sounded in Uttar Pradesh following heavy downpours in many parts of the state since Thursday morning, an official said. The rain led to inundation in many areas with the water rising in major rivers.
An official told IANS that so far one person has been reported dead and more than a dozen injured in rain related incidents.
A 43-year-old woman died in Sarokhanpur village in Jaunpur district when her house collapsed due to heavy rain. Four persons were injured in a similar house collapse in Shamli district of western Uttar Pradesh.
The heavy downpour has brought life to a standstill in Agra, Etawah, Mainpuri and Kannauj where widespread damage to buildings and flooding of localities has been reported.
It has rained more than 115 mm in just five hours in Agra, leading to water-logging in most parts of the city. Even the countryside has been flooded, an official informed.
Following a prediction by the Regional Met Office of more rain in the next 48 hours, an alert has been sounded in districts including Santkabeernagar, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Basti, Faizabad, Agra, Mathura, Farukkhabad and Bulandshahr.
District officials have been asked to brace up for inclement weather and make preparations for rescue and relief. People have been asked to shift out of low-lying areas and from near the river banks.
Due to heavy rain in Ayodhya, the Saryu river is in spate and is adding almost 1 cm of water to its level every hour. However, it is flowing about 35 cm below the danger mark, a district official said.
The Chambal river is also in spate and eight flood stations have been established on the banks of the river and 41 villages have been asked to be on high alert.
According to information available with the state government, one house collapsed in Mathura while the boundary wall of a cow shelter caved in at a local temple in Vrindavan.
Water-logging was also reported from Etawah and Mainpuri where heavy rain has been falling since morning. A road caved in, in Vaishali area of Ghaziabad and many roads were under knee-deep water.
–IANS<br>md/mag/bg
Source: IANS