Uttar Pradesh rain: state data puts deaths at 56 and injuries at 46

At least 56 people have died and 46 have been injured in Uttar Pradesh after heavy rain, in two Sunday reports that cite official figures and agree on those totals. India Today said the numbers were state government data after 60 hours of rain, with 107 animals killed and 1,021 houses damaged. The Times of India said 56 died and 46 were injured between 25 and 26 September, citing a report from Relief Commissioner Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod's office, and also reported 107 animal deaths. It said crop damage was still being assessed. Neither story calls the toll final.

District deaths match. Sitapur had seven. Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich and Balrampur had five each. Ayodhya and Gorakhpur had four each.

Injuries do not match in one district. Both said Hardoi had seven injured, and Sitapur and Lakhimpur Kheri three each. India Today said Mainpuri, Shravasti and Barabanki had five each. The Times of India said Mainpuri and Shravasti had five each and Barabanki four. Both Barabanki figures are kept.

Animal deaths were 107 in both, with the same district split: Hardoi 28, Sitapur 16, Kannauj 14, Bahraich 7, Kanpur Dehat 7 and Unnao 6.

Houses damaged were 1,021 in both. The Times of India said Hardoi had 272 and Sitapur 108, and named Chandauli, Auraiya, Gonda, Hamirpur, Shahjahanpur and Bahraich as well. India Today gave counts for those districts from the state data: Hardoi 272, Sitapur 108, Chandauli 75, Auraiya 60, Gonda 54, Hamirpur 51, Shahjahanpur 47 and Bahraich 44. The extra district counts are India Today's. The Times of India confirms the total and the two largest.

Rain figures use different baselines, so they are not merged. India Today said Lucknow had 125.8 mm in the 21 hours to Saturday morning, and that Farrukhabad got 200 times its normal rain, Kanpur Nagar 160 times, and Kannauj, Kanpur Dehat and Hardoi 130 times. For the 24 hours to 8:30 am Saturday it cited IMD readings that included Banda 227.6 mm, Fatehgarh 224 mm, Nanpara in Bahraich 217 mm, Hardoi 214 mm and Kannauj 204 mm. It said several other districts, including Lucknow, Kanpur and Barabanki, had heavy to very heavy rain.

The Times of India, from the relief report, said the state averaged 66.5 mm in 48 hours against a normal 7.6 mm, a 775 percent excess, and that 56 of 75 districts had "large excess" rain. It put Farrukhabad at 7,385 percent above normal, Kannauj 5,664 percent, Shahjahanpur 4,408 percent, Hamirpur 4,240 percent and Mahoba 4,100 percent. That Farrukhabad line is not the same statement as India Today's "200 times" normal. Both stand as printed.

India Today said a depression over northeast Madhya Pradesh and adjoining north Chhattisgarh was, at 5:30 am Saturday, about 230 km south of Prayagraj, and was expected to weaken after Saturday evening. The paper said the forecast included heavy rain in eastern Uttar Pradesh, isolated extremely heavy rain in the central Terai, and a light to moderate flash-flood risk in some watersheds over the next 24 hours.

It quoted Praveen Singh on waterlogged roads, Ramesh Sahu on difficult walking near the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and Hardoi farmer Pramod Kumar, who said more crops could fall if the rain continued.

India Today said Akhilesh Yadav posted video of water on the Ganga Expressway and suggested calling it the "Ganga Express Waterway." It said Mayawati asked governments to help people hit by rain. In that paragraph the paper said her remarks followed 10 deaths and 17 injuries in the state on Saturday, and that 63 districts had above-normal rain. Those Saturday figures are not the 56 and 46. They are not added to that toll and do not replace it.

What's next

Yashod told The Times of India that crop-loss assessment, rescue and relief were still going on. No later toll than 56 dead and 46 injured is in these two reports.