New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh government announced closure of schools and colleges for two days, following incessant downpour in many parts of the state.

The state is witnessing non-stop rains for last 24 hours. Heavy rains led to waterlogging in many areas, making commutation difficult and throwing daily life out of gear. Electricity lines were snapped while at many places, railway tracks were submerged.

To make matters worse, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall and issued a red alert to the eastern part of the state. According to MeT, more torrential rains are likely in next few days.

“Heavy rainfall has been recorded across the state, mainly in the central UP districts such as Ayodhya, Barabanki, and Lucknow. About 33mm rainfall has been recorded over the last 24 hours. A few incidents of lightning and thunderstorm, as well as house collapses, have been reported. As per initial reports, 13 deaths have been reported, while close to a dozen more have been injured in rain-related incidents,” said Ranvir Prasad, UP Relief Commissioner.

Schools, colleges shut for 2 days across the state

Schools, colleges and other educational institutes will remain shut on Friday and Saturday owing to the heavy rainfall.

According to UP police, 12 people died due to house and wall collapse in districts of UP such as Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Jaunpur, and Barabanki.

In several areas, power cut was experienced and trees were uprooted. In parts of Lucknow, traffic jams and disruption in telecom services were noticed. Besides, due to fallen trees on road, the Lucknow-Bareilly highway was closed for 4 hours, said Bareilly Additional District Magistrate, Finance and Revenue, Manoj Kumar Pandey.

Some districts received over 100 mm of rain. The torrential downpour also led to waterlogged several roads making it difficult for people to travel.

Yogi Adityanath also had to cancel his visit to Barabanki due to waterlogging at the venue where the program was scheduled.