Continuous heavy rains worsen life in Pilibhit; schools closed for three days

PILIBHIT: Heavy rains continuing for over 36 hours across the district of Pilibhit in UP disrupted normal life on Monday, combined with a threat of heavy floods in over 80 villages.

The district administration alerted over four dozen vulnerable villages located in proximity to the River Sharda in Puranpur and Kalinagar tehsils, Pilibhit. This action was taken in view of the heavy discharge of water in the River Sharda and Devha, which were constantly showing a rising trend.Due to continuous rainfall, the district magistrate of Pilibhit, Gyanendra Singh, ordered the shutdown of all government and private schools and colleges from primary up to senior secondary level, affiliated with the UP, CBSE, and ICSE boards, until Sep 3.The minister of state for sugarcane development and the sugar industry, Sanjay Singh Gangwar, inspected the waterlogged areas in Pilibhit city on foot and asked the district magistrate to initiate proceedings for the immediate suspension of the municipal council’s executive officer, finding him responsible for silt in city drains.The floodwater of the River Sharda, which was flowing just 1.5 meters below the danger level at 4 PM on Monday with a discharge of 200,710 cusecs, entered many villages and village houses.

The villages of Naldenga, Gorakhdibbi, Hajara, Shastri Nagar, Naujalha Nkata, Bundibhoor, and Maharajganj were the worst affected.In village Hajara, the locals said that due to floodwater in houses, food could not be cooked. The sub-divisional magistrate of Puranpur circle, Ajit Pratap Singh, said that a team of revenue officials, including the tehsildar, nayab tehsildar, and lekhpals, was constantly monitoring the situation, and food was being prepared for the flood-affected villagers at the flood relief camps.The additional district magistrate (finance and revenue), Ritu Punia, told TOI that the district administration set up 34 flood relief camps and 32 flood posts and kept 42 boats, 90 divers, and 67 trained swimmers on standby. In addition, 12 teams were constituted, comprising 12 government medical officers and 36 medical supervisors.“A team of the state disaster response force has been deployed at Kalinagar tehsil headquarters to carry out the rescue and evacuation as and when required.

Due to the scarcity of fodder for cattle, the animal husbandry department has made adequate arrangements for it,” she added.Meanwhile, the tehsildar of Kalinagar tehsil, Virendra Kumar, said that as many as 28 boats were provided to nine severely affected villages to shift the villagers to flood relief camps and other safer places.DM Gyanendra Singh said that under the command of the district disaster management authority, flood control rooms at Pilibhit district headquarters and the Puranpur, Kalinagar, Amaria, and Bisalpur tehsil areas were being operated round the clock, with contact numbers of the administrative officials being circulated widely.