Death toll rises to 122 as heavy rains lash north India

Heavy rains have killed at least 122 people in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar over the past three days, officials said on Monday, as floodwaters swamped a major city, inundated hospital wards and forced the evacuation of inmates from jail.

An official said that at least 93 people had died in Uttar Pradesh since Friday after its eastern areas were lashed by intense monsoon showers.

Rising water levels forced authorities to shift 900 inmates from a prison in eastern Ballia district, police officer Santosh Verma said.

The death toll due to incessant rainfall and flood in different areas of Bihar has risen to 29, officials said. According to the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority, till now, 29 people have died in the state due to rainfall.

Patna, home to around 2 million, has been badly hit, with waist-deep floodwaters across many streets, and entering homes, shops, and even the wards of a major hospital. In some parts, authorities deployed boats to rescue residents.

Floods in India: Parts of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh face deluge

The state government has requested the Indian Air Force (IAF) for two helicopters for lifting and airdropping food packets and medicines, in the flood-affected areas of the region.

"The rains have stopped but there is waterlogging in many areas," Bihar's Additional Secretary in the Disaster Relief Department Amod Kumar Sharan said.

In its bulletin on Monday, India's Meteorological Department said the intensity of rainfall over Bihar was very likely to reduce. Showers in Uttar Pradesh are also expected to abate this week.

Weather department officials said this month that monsoon rains were likely to be above average for the first time in six years.

India's monsoon season that begins in June usually starts to retreat by early September, but heavy rains have continued across parts of the country this year, triggering floods.