Lucknow, September 30: Heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in Uttar Pradesh prompting jail authorities in the state to shift inmates to different jails as water entered jail barracks. According to a tweet by ANI, hundreds of inmates of Ballia Jail were taken to different prisons in the state after torrential rains triggered flood-like situation in the region. Ram Asrey, Additional District Magistrate was quoted by ANI saying that around 500 inmates are being sent to Azamgarh Jail while others have been shifted to Ambedkar NagarJail.

Nearly 73 people have died across Uttar Pradesh in rain-related incidences over the last four days. Parts of the state received above-average rainfall this week, prompting the administration to issue a red alert -- especially in the eastern part of the state. Ballia District Magistrate Bhavani Singh Khangaraut was quoted by IANS saying that water logging from five inches to one foot has been reported from all the barracks of the district jail. “We have received approval of authorities concerned to shift 450 prisoners to Azamgarh jail. Approval for shifting more prisoners to Mau and Ambedkar Nagar jails is awaited”, Khangaraut said.

Here's the tweet:

According to reports, the jail building is in a dilapidated condition and officials said water-logging inside it is not new. The jail is located in a low lying area while the height of roads in the area has increased by several feet in recent years. According to a report by IANS, heavy rains also led to land cave-in on tracks between Ballia and Bansdih stations severely disrupting rail traffic on Ballia-Chhapra division on Sunday. In the wake of the heavy rainfall, as many as seven trains were cancelled and five were diverted and one train was short terminated, said Mahesh Gupta, Public Relations Officer - Varanasi, North Eastern Railways.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 30, 2019 02:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).