The flood situation in Orissa was grave with surging river waters snapping links with holy places like Puri and Konark while the Yamuna crossed the danger mark
NEW DELHI; The flood situation in Orissa was grave on Sunday with surging river waters snapping links with holy places like Puri and Konark while the Yamuna crossed the danger mark at Sonepat in Haryana and was rising alarmingly in the national capital.
In Orissa, the government intensified air dropping of relief materials in marooned areas.
"Foodstuff were air-dropped at Banki, Bayalis Mouza, Baisi Mouza, Niali, Marsaghai and other places," said Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal, who along with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made an aerial survey of flood-hit areas.
A 400-ft breach on embankment of Bhargavi river near Pipili town caused disruption of road communication between Puri town and Konark.
The water level of the Yamuna here touched 204.60 m, just 23 cm away from the danger mark, as Haryana released nearly four lakh cusecs of water into the river, forcing officials to take precautionary measures to tackle the "alarming situation".
In Bihar, even though the waters are receding animal rights activists fear an outbreak of foot and mouth disease among livestock.
Relief materials worth over Rs two lakh meant for distribution among the flood victims of worst-hit Madhepura district were lost when a country made boat carrying government officials and relief materials overturned near Mojama village in Kosi river, officials said.
According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare and Wildlife Trust of India, about 8,000 animals have been treated by their animal rescue teams in the state.
In Uttar Pradesh, incessant rains accompanied by high velocity winds claimed 52 lives since on Saturday taking the toll in rain related incidents this season to over 1,000 in the state, official sources said.
While 10 people were killed in Sitapur and Pilibhit, eight persons each were killed in Barabanki and Bahraich, five each in Basti, Kushinagar and Deoria and one in Allahabad in rain related incidents of house, wall and roof collapse and drowning.
Over 110 mm of rain was recorded in capital Lucknow as all the major rivers including Ganga, Gomti, Rapti, Ghagra are on the rise once again.
The rains disrupted air, train and road traffic and power and communication links remained suspended for hours with several trees, hoardings and poles being uprooted
In Uttarakhand, three porters were feared dead while 37 trekkers were rescued as the state's higher reaches continued to witness heavy snowfall for the fourth day.
The porters accompanying a trekking team went missing on Kalindi-Badrinath trek in Garhwal Himalayas on Friday, an official said.
In Haryana, standing crops in many areas between the embankments of Yamuna and a 48-km-long bundh, starting from Bega village to Dehesra village, were destroyed by floodwaters following the release of 3.80 lakh cusecs of water from the Tajewala Headworks near Yamunanagar.
An alert has been sounded in about 50 villages along the river bed in Ganaur and Sonepat sub-divisions and people have been asked to take shelter at safer places.
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