Uttar Pradesh News: Heavy Rains Trigger Flood Threats Across State, Ganga Surges In Varanasi, Erosion Hits Lakhimpur Kheri

Lucknow: Heavy monsoon activity has swept across Uttar Pradesh, leading to a rapid rise in river levels, widespread rainfall, and alarming flood threats in several districts. In the past 24 hours alone, 8.3 mm of rainfall was recorded with over 7% higher than average, bringing the state’s seasonal total to 88 mm.

In Lakhimpur Kheri, the Sharda river's rising waters led to intense erosion, with a concrete house collapsing into the river in just nine seconds, sparking panic in the surrounding villages. Rain continues to inundate several colonies in the region.

In Varanasi, the Ganga river surged by 2 meters in the past day, rising at a rate of 50 mm per hour. Water reached the upper steps of Manikarnika Ghat, severing access to key cremation sites. Similar swelling was reported in Amroha and Prayagraj, where both Ganga and Yamuna rivers have risen significantly, forcing authorities to evacuate low-lying areas.

Meanwhile, tragedy struck in Bahraich, where three children drowned in a water-filled pit, and in Barabanki, where a man was killed by lightning during paddy plantation. The flood situation is worsening in Balrampur, where Nepal has released 37,000 cusecs of water into the Rapti river, causing erosion in over a dozen villages and submerging fields of sugarcane and paddy.

Incidents were also reported from Pilibhit, where a canal breach inundated 50 bighas of farmland; Kanpur, where a road caved in; and Bijnor, where a boundary wall collapsed. The Meteorological Department has issued heavy rainfall warnings for 35 districts as monsoon intensifies across the state.