At least 56 people have died in Uttar Pradesh over the past three days as heavy rain triggered flooding and landslides across parts of the northern Indian state, the government’s disaster management agency said on Sunday.
The Relief Commissioner’s office said the deaths occurred during a spell of “exceptionally heavy rain” that affected large parts of the state.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with more than 240 million residents, is frequently battered by heavy rain and thunderstorms during the June-to-September monsoon season.
More than 1,000 houses were damaged after a depression over the Bay of Bengal moved inland, intensifying rainfall across the region, according to the agency.
The state recorded 66.5 millimetres of rain between Friday and Sunday, compared with a seasonal average of 7.6 millimetres, it said.
India’s weather authorities have in recent years warned of increasingly frequent extreme weather events, including intense thunderstorms and lightning. Experts have linked the trend to rising temperatures and changing climate patterns.
