More than 100 people have died due to flooding caused by heavy rains in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Railway traffic, vehicular movement, healthcare services, schools and power supply have been disrupted in both states.
Uttar Pradesh
An Uttar Pradesh government report said 93 people have died since Thursday.
Dramatic images of the impact of flood water on urban life have been coming out of the affected areas.
In eastern Uttar Pradesh, flooding caused officials to relocate more than 500 prisoners from the Ballia district jail to other prisons after water entered three buildings.
More than 100 dead in fresh India floods
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 30, 2019
[tap to expand]https://t.co/emRlHXFMoy pic.twitter.com/q77v1reRbJ
The Additional District Magistrate told reporters that officials were awaiting permission to move all of the prison’s 850 inmates to Azamgarh jail, which is about 120km (74 miles) away.
Bihar
The death toll in Bihar is 29, according to the state disaster management authority.
The main city of the state has been deluged with rain since Friday, submerging many residential areas. People are navigating the main roads – which are dotted with abandoned and partially submerged vehicles – by boat.
The floods have disrupted normal life. A video of a man struggling to pull his cycle-rickshaw out of flood water has been circulated widely on social media.
The video is of a poor Rickshawalla from Patna. You may cry by understanding his pain and cries.
— RITURAJ SINGH (@ThinknThought) September 28, 2019
Bihar is drowned & India is busy with #IndiasPrideModi #TheBigBillionDays
How can we celebrate if poor people in our own country are crying? #BiharRains
Do we have a heart? pic.twitter.com/UafaMNViJZ
The PTI news agency quoted an official as saying that the amount of rain the city received was “completely unexpected”.
The state government has asked the Indian Air Force for helicopters and machines to pump out water.
In August 2019, more than 270 people were killed and 1 million others were evacuated across India. Is this new wave of flooding worst? [BBC]
