4-year-old, food delivery exec among four dead after downpour in Kanpur, Kannauj

Kanpur city alone experienced 155 mm rainfall in the 24 hours ending 2 pm, according to weather experts.

Four people—including a four-year-old boy—died in rain-related incidents after Thursday’s downpour in Kanpur, Kannauj and their adjoining areas under the impact of cyclone Biporjoy, district officials said. Kanpur city alone experienced 155 mm rainfall in the 24 hours ending 2 pm, according to experts at CS Azad University for Agriculture and Technology.

Rain that had lashed Lucknow on Wednesday. While three deaths were reported from the Kanpur region alone on Thursday, the details of the man who died in Kannauj were yet to be ascertained. (HT photo)

While three deaths were reported from the Kanpur region alone, the details of the man who died in Kannauj were yet to be ascertained. In Bilhaur (a town in Kanpur Nagar), a four-year-old boy died in a house collapse during the rain. One Rizwan, 22, died in a rain-related incident in Ghatampur.

Also, the body of a man, said to be a food delivery executive, was found near Kanpur’s Juhi railway underpass, which usually gets flooded during rains, after water receded from there in the noon, police said. Even though the police were yet to ascertain his identity, they said he has a body tattoo that read ‘Charan Singh’. This was the second death reported at the underpass in the past three years.

Two cars were also found submerged at the same spot, but their passengers managed to swim to safety, the police added.

The police, which said efforts were underway to establish the identity of the deceased, issued an advisory for people to remain cautious of water-logged places even if they knew the road well.

In Jhansi, the gates of Pathrai Dam on the Sukhnai (a tributary of Dhasan) was opened, for the first time in 15 years, earlier this month to release water that had risen dramatically because of heavy rains upstream. The release of water has increased the water level of Sukhnai river following which some villages were affected.

Jhansi received 90 mm of rains in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, hundreds bighas of land were marooned in the Bidhnu area due to a canal breach caused by the water pressure, according to locals.

Principal weather scientist at the agriculture university in Kanpur Dr SN Sunil Pandey said the present conditions were likely to prevail till June 24 in and around Kanpur under the impact of Biporjoy. Also, monsoon is expected to hit Kanpur by June 25 due to an existing pressure over the Bay of Bengal, he added.