By IANS,
Lucknow : Heavy rains lashing Uttar Pradesh have claimed at least 30 lives in the past 24 hours from Sunday even as the Met Office said the downpour would subside only by Monday.
The state has been witnessing heavy rains for the past week that has left a trail of destruction. Dozens have died in separate incidents of house collapse and drowning, officials said here Sunday.
The maximum number of deaths were reported in Fatehpur district, where at least six people died in separate incidents of house collapse, officials said.
“Most of the accidents took place at Teeranpur and Jamuna Mau localities of the district where four people died in house collapses,” Fatehpur sub-divisional magistrate Ram Asrey told IANS.
With the details of the damage rendered by rain Saturday still being collected, officials said fatalities were reported from at least seven more districts including Agra, Rai Bareli, Kanpur, Sultanpur, Gonda, Ambedkar Nagar and Lucknow.
Four children drowned in a lake in Gonda district. The children had gone to the Manakpur lake to take bath, but were swept away, officials said.
Gonda District Magistrate Mukteshwar Mohan said: “We have started the relief-work in the wake of the heavy rainfall. Compensation to the bereaved family members and those displaced due to the rains will be provide at the earliest.”
Meanwhile, the Met Office said the state would witness rain for at least 24 hours more till Monday.
“The upper air cyclonic pressure will gradually become weaker after 24 hours (from Sunday). As a result, the intensity and the frequency of rainfall both will decline,” met director L.C. Ram told IANS.
The moisture concentration over the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, which have particularly witnessed more than normal rainfall, will also lower bringing respite from heavy rains, he added.
In the last 24 hours, maximum rainfall was recorded at 111 mm in Kanpur district, the official said.