Heavy rains flood UP Assembly, CM Adityanath escorted via alternate exit

Due to intense rainfall, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly complex was submerged, with water seeping into ground-floor rooms and reportedly damaging essential items

Intense rainfall in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday (July 31), led to widespread flooding in the city, with the water entering the Legislative Assembly as well, shows viral video posted by news agency ANI. 

The UP Assembly complex was hit particularly hard, with water seeping into ground-floor rooms and damaging essential items, several media outlets reported.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had to be escorted out of the Assembly complex through an alternative gate due to the flooding. Assembly officials were seen wading through knee-deep water. Reports indicate that rainwater even infiltrated the office of the Assembly Secretariat.

The relentless rainfall forced the Uttar Pradesh Assembly to shut down for the day. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier issued a warning on heavy rains over the next seven days in Lucknow, according to reports.

Assembly flooding sparks budget concerns

Another viral video showed workers using buckets to remove water from the Assembly premises. Staff at the site mentioned that they had never seen flooding of this magnitude in the Assembly before, as reported by IndiaTVnews. Water was also reported to be leaking from the roof, with other offices, including the municipal corporation, experiencing similar flooding.

Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav took to X (formerly Twitter) to call for increased Budget allocations for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, saying that if one heavy rain could cause such extensive damage, the rest of the state could be at risk of similar incidents.

 

Soldiers deployed amid widespread flooding

Meanwhile, soldiers were reportedly deployed to the Assembly complex, seen scaling walls and gates to help manage the floodwaters. In addition to the Legislative Assembly, several areas in Hazratganj, a major locality in Lucknow, faced severe waterlogging.

Earlier in the week, rescue teams evacuated over 100 villagers stranded in flash floods in Bahraich district, UP, after an excessive release of water from Nepal led to flooding in the Ghaghra River. Residents of Chahalwa village, near the India-Nepal border, were trapped in agricultural fields across the river.