Slight improvement in flood situation in Uttar Pradesh: Officials

The flood situation in Uttar Pradesh has improved further, with three districts being dropped from the list of affected places on Tuesday, officials said.

On Monday, a total of 19 districts in the state were listed as affected by the flood, however, Mahrajganj, Pilibhit and Siddharth Nagar were removed from the list the next day, they said.

Sixteen districts in the state -- Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Ballia, Balrampur, Barabanki, Basti, Deoria, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kheri, Kushinagar, Mau, Sant Kabir Nagar and Sitapur, are still in the official list of places affected by the flood.

According to Relief Commissioner Sanjay Goyal, a total of 517 villages in these 16 districts are affected and 268 have got marooned.

In UP, Sharda river in Palliakalan (Lakhimpur Kheri) and Ghaghra in Turtipar (Ballia) are flowing above the danger mark, he said, adding that relief and rescue operations are on in the affected districts.

Goyal said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed DMs of the affected districts to conduct flood relief work on top priority.

"NDRF and SDRF teams are deployed at the sensitive places and officials are monitoring the situation," the commissioner said.