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Floods hamper normal life as floodwater swamps roads in India

Reuters
Patna, IndiaUpdated: Sep 30, 2019, 11:32 AM IST
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File photo. Photograph:(IANS)

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Scores of people in Bihar's capital city, Patna were rendered homeless by the floods as water inundated their houses and forced them to wade through waist-deep water with their belongings clenched in their hands.

Floods triggered by torrential rains have inundated houses, swamped roads, and paralysed normal life in India's northern Uttar Pradesh and eastern Bihar states on Sunday (September 29).

Scores of people in Bihar's capital city, Patna were rendered homeless by the floods as water inundated their houses and forced them to wade through waist-deep water with their belongings clenched in their hands.

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

At least 17 people have been killed in the region due to flash floods, local media reports said on Saturday (September 28).

Water-logged roads have made emergency services like ambulances inaccessible in the region, owing to which, a man was seen carrying a body on a cart.

An administrative official said rescue forces have been posted to evacuate stranded locals and around 8000-9000 people have been evacuated.

"SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) and NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) teams have been posted here.

Almost 8000-9000 people have been evacuated today since morning," said District Magistrate, Patna, Kumar Ravi.

In the temple city of Varanasi, water-logging affected commuters.

Uttar Pradesh has witnessed constant rainfall in the recent few days and water from the rain-swollen rivers have reached the low-lying residential areas inundating houses and property.

India's monsoon usually starts retreating at the start of September but has been delayed by a month this year. Intense rainfall in many parts of the country has triggered floods that have swamped cane and rice fields and caused deaths in some cases.