• By Nidhi Giri
  • Fri, 19 Jul 2024 02:27 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Uttar Pradesh: Authorities have banned the operations of small boats in the Ganges following the rise of water level of the river in Varanasi. Although rains have subsided over the last couple of weeks, water from the mountains is now slowly starting to show effects in the plains, leading to the submerging of steps at various ghats in the temple town.

"The water level has now reached 10 feet. People are not able to go to other Ghats now. This has also led to tourism getting affected and small boat owners have stopped travelling to the Ghats,” said Madan Sahani, a local who lives near the Ghats, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Manish Kumar, a small boat owner, said, "We are not able to row the boats, they are almost at a halt now. The water has reached up to 10 feet. This is now affecting our livelihood. We will have to start taking up smaller jobs to start earning now. The conditions will persist for at least two to three months now."

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Avadhesh, another resident, said, "We are facing a lot of difficulties due to the rising water. All the pilgrims need to know that safety and precautions need to be maintained and that pilgrims should not go deep into the river and the three Ghats: Rajendra Ghat, Sheetla Ghat and Dasha Sumer Ghat. Accidents can occur.”

Additionally, on July 16, around 48 villages in Gorakhpur were affected due to the rising water levels of the Rapti River. The water level in the river rose one metre above danger levels.

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Gorakhpur SSP, Gaurav Grover visited a few of the affected villages and assured residents. As per officials, nearly 18 districts, including Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia, Shahjahanpur, Kushinagar, Shravasti, Balrampur, Lakhimpur, Kheri, Barabanji, Sitapur, Gonda Siddharth Nagar, Moradabad, Bareilly and Basti in Uttar Pradesh, were affected due to the increasing water levels.

(With Agency Inputs)