Rivers rising menacingly in UP, lightning kills two

LUCKNOW: Major rivers were in spate in Uttar Pradesh and were flowing close to the red today as two persons were killed in a bolt of lightning in Ballia district.

Rivers Sharda and Ghaghra were rising menacingly and were flowing near the danger mark at several places in the state, the Central Water Commission said.

River Ganga was also rising along its course at Ballia, Fatehgarh, Kanpur, Kannauj, Dalmau, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Ghazipur, it said.

Sharda was flowing above the red mark at Pallian Kalan in Lakhimpur district and Ghaghra at Turtipaar in Ballia, the Central Water Commission said.

In Barabanki district, nearly 15,000 people in around 36 villages were affected due to the rise in water level of Ghaghra.

Heera Gupta, aged 50, and Khushboo (13) were killed in in Ballia district when lightning struck them, police said.