The state received 3.3mm rainfall during the past 24 hours and a total 242.5mm rainfall since June 1, against a normal of 220mm for this period. In 26 districts, rainfall exceeded 120%, and in 18 districts it exceeded between 80 and 120%.

The flood-affected districts included Lakhimpur Kheri, Balrampur, Kushinagar, Shahjahanpur, Ballia, Siddharthnagar, Barabanki, Sitapur, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Hardoi, Ayodhya, Bahraich, Farrukhabad, Deoria and Unnao.

Rescue operations were on and flood relief camps with adequate facilities were being set up in affected areas.

Rivers flowing above the danger mark included Rapti in Gorakhpur, Bansi in Siddharthnagar, Budhi Rapti in Siddharthnagar, Ghaghra in Ballia, Ramganga in Shahjahanpur and Kunhara in Siddharthnagar.

Farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri’s Nighasan tehsil, which shares border with Nepal, were now threatened by soil erosion even as flooding in Mohana river was receding. Originating from Nepal, the river flows along Pallia and Nighasan tehsils before it flows into the Ghaghra.

Carrying unregulated waters from Nepal, the Mohana, last week, inundated scores of villages and agricultural lands in the densely populated areas of Pallia and Nighasan, besides flooding a major portion of Dudhwa National Park forests. Around 3.5 hectares of agricultural lands with standing crops were swallowed by the river in the district.

Gurmeet Singh, a farmer from Nayapind village, said floods led to the erosion of acres of agricultural lands with standing crops that were owned by a dozen farmers.

Nighasan SDM Rajeev Nigam confirmed that acres of farmlands had been eroded as a result of flooding in the Mohana. He conducted an inspection of the border areas on Sunday.

“The flooded Mohana has washed away around 3.5 hectares of agricultural lands... The exact amount of losses suffered by farmers can be estimated only when the river returns to its original position.”

He said a survey would be carried out to assess the losses to farmers and compensate them.”

Erosion significantly increased near the riverbanks due to the rise in the water levels of Saryu river in Ballia district. Scared due to erosion, villagers were forced to use chisels and hammers to break down their homes and take them away from the riverbanks.

People said the erosion was so fast that the river almost reached their homes and the houses were on the verge of being submerged in the water and that’s why they were breaking their houses and taking their belongings with them away from the river.

Vishram Yadav, a resident of Bhojpurwa village in the Bansdih tehsil of the district, said he was scared of erosion caused by the rising water level of the river. He was also getting his house demolished by a bulldozer so that he could take away with him the debris that could be useful to him. Input from agencies