VARANASI: With the Ganga showing no signs of relenting, the temple town seems to be heading for the second worst flood in the last three years.
In 2013, the city was gripped by a massive flood when the Ganga touched 72.63-meter mark flooding several pockets of the district, said the central water commission.
The river reached the highest ever level of 73.901 meters in 1978.
On Tuesday, the Ganga was flowing at 72.48 meters and rising at the rate of one centimetre per hour. The officials said that the river water will increase to 72.60 metre in the next couple of hours, hitting some more pockets in the city.
The Varuna, a tributary, is also swelling. The condition at Assi Ghat is no different. Flood waters entered new areas on Tuesday, one of them being Trauma Centre Road.
The Ganga has affected 40 pockets. Besides, 225 villages are also in the grip of the floods.
Several thousand people have been affected in eastern UP districts of Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur.
In Varanasi, many locals from Ramana shifted their cattle to safer locations. SDM (sadar) Aryaka Akhauri said, “Gram pradhans (village heads) have been instructed to prepare a list of affected families and set up relief camps.”