By IANS,
Lucknow : The Uttar Pradesh government Thursday began distribution of relief material in three eastern districts, the worst-affected among the eight in the state declared hit by floods, an official said.
Flood relief material were being distributed in Gorakhpur, Siddharth Nagar and Ballia districts, some 200 to 300 km from here.
Officials said they had received reports of 12 deaths because of the rains across the state since Wednesday. The deaths were caused by collapsing houses and by drowning.
Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta told reporters that five rivers in the state were in spate and flowing over the danger mark.
“Sharda, Ghaghra, Rapti, old Rapti and Kuano rivers have caused havoc in rural areas of the flood affected districts,” Gupta said.
“The Gomti river has also caused flooding in the rural areas of Lucknow,” he added.
“The situation worsened because Nepal did not provide timely information about rising water levels in the catchment areas of rivers flowing to the state,” he claimed.
The state government has announced aid of Rs.20 million to each affected district.
“We have not asked the central government for any assistance and will be handling the relief works from our disaster and relief fund,” Gupta said.