Heavy rain wreaks havoc in Meerut, Saharanpur regions

In Saharanpur district where 25 locations in urban areas and 12 in rural areas witnessed waterlogging, the administration had to shift 225 people to shelter homes.

MEERUT Heavy rain has led to waterlogging in low lying areas in Meerut and Saharanpur regions, affecting train traffic. After a landslide in Biharigarh area of Saharanpur district, traffic on Delhi- Dehradun highway was also obstructed. Both Ganga and Yamuna rivers are flowing above warning level in the region.

District magistrate of Saharanpur Dr Dinesh Chandra said that officials were keeping a close watch on the situation and teams of NDRF were helping people. (Pic for representation)

Cracks in embankment of rivers have caused inundation in agricultural fields, which may lead to widespread damages to crops of sugarcane and fodder.

The worst hit was Saharanpur district where 25 locations in urban areas and 12 in rural areas witnessed waterlogging and the administration had to shift 225 people to shelter homes.

The state government shared through a tweet that “ 225 people were taken to shelter homes in Saharanpur and people of two villages in Muzaffarnagar were also shifted to safer places”.

District magistrate of Saharanpur Dr Dinesh Chandra said that officials were keeping a close watch on the situation and teams of NDRF were helping people.

Engineer Piyush Baliyan, deputed at Ganga barrage in Bijnor, said that water level in the river was above the warning mark and presently 1,69,323 cusec water per second was flowing down to barrage. “If rain continues, it may rise up to 2 to 2.5 lakh cusec per second,” he said.

Pradhan of Kishorpur village in Hastinapur area Rishipal Malik said that the overflowing Ganga had caused waterlogging in farms located in low-lying areas. “If waterlogging continues for a long time it would ruin the crops of sugarcane and fodder which may lead to severe shortage in coming days,” said Malik, adding that his village was situated close to river Ganga but he had received no guidelines from officials yet.

There are other villages like Bastaura Doodhli, Makhdoompur and Jalalpur which could be in trouble if water level of Ganga increases further.

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy Mohd Muneer drowned in waterlogging of a railway underpass near Sheikhpur Kadeem area of Dehat police station on Tuesday evening. The boy was bathing along with other village boys when he slipped into deep water and drowned. SHO of Dehat police station Manoj Kumar said that railway officials were asked to cordon off the underpass in order to avoid such incidents.

Water overflowed on railway track between Balliwala and Luxar in Bijnor on Tuesday which obstructed train operations on this route for hours. At least 40 trains which pass through the area were either cancelled or their routes diverted due to waterlogging on tracks. Connecting roads and small bridges were washed away in heavy flow of water and people residing in remote villages were stranded.

The embankment of Yamuna leaked near Sakraund village of Baghpat district and villagers repaired it to prevent further damage. They have demanded that the administration should get it repaired on priority basis otherwise heavy flow of water could damage it further. Waterlogging in hundreds of beegha land of Kaatha, Niwara, Tanda, Kotana and Faizpur Ninaana villages damaged crops of vegetables and fodder.

Shakumbhari Shaktipeeth in Saharanpur district also received heavy rainfall in past two days and the entire area is under flood. The administration has advised people not to visit the Peeth until the situation improves.

Meanwhile, schools and colleges in the region will remain closed till July 15 due to ongoing Kanwar Yatra.