Uttar Pradesh floods: Army evacuates people marooned in Gorakhpur, 250 civilians rescued in 24 hours

Lucknow: The army on Sunday rescued people marooned in flood-hit Gorakhpur city in Uttar Pradesh, a military official said. Three teams from the army have been pressed into service at the request of the state government. All three teams were “working relentlessly to rescue people marooned in the flood waters”, the official said. [caption id=“attachment_3949771” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] They were also distributing relief material such as food packets, water, medicines and dry ration. More than 250 persons have been evacuated in the last 24 hours in Gorakhpur’s Moharipur, Maniram and Gau Ghaat areas. Officials told IANS that 500 kilograms of dry ration, a large number of water bottles, sufficient quantity of medicines and 1,000 food packets were distributed. Large parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Shrawasti, Gorakhpur, Ballia, Balrampur and Siddharthanagar, have been hit by floods due to heavy rains and water released by neighbouring Nepal. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been making aerial surveys of the affected areas for the last few days and has also distributed relief material. Adityanath has also inspected the flooded areas on life boats and has told officials to ensure that relief material reaches the people without delay.