Uttar Pradesh: 939 prisoners shifted as Ballia jail gets waterlogged after heavy rain wreaks havoc

VARANASI: Continuous rains since Friday till Saturday evening wreaked havoc in Ballia and Azamgarh districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Due to heavy waterlogging inside Ballia jail, as many as 939 prisoners were shifted to neighbouring districts while heavy pumps were being arranged for Azamgarh city localities.

The divisional commissioner of Azamgarh, Vijay Vishwas Pant, who convened a meeting of officials on Saturday evening to finalise strategies for clearing of water from the inundated areas of Ballia and Azamgarh, told TOI, "Mainly the main city areas of both the districts are badly hit by the continuous rain fall.Most of the city localities in Azamgarh are waterlogged while massive waterlogging inside Ballia jail has led to shifting of prisoners to the jails of Azamgarh and Ambedkar Nagar districts."
The Ballia district jail superintendent Lal Ratnakar Singh said that the matter of heavy waterlogging inside the barracks had been brought to the knowledge of senior officers in Azamgarh and also those in Lucknow.
"After examining the situation, the officials issued order for shifting the prisoners to the jails of neighbouring districts", he said.
"On getting orders for shifting of 939 prisoners including 61 women as many as 600 had been sent to Azamgarh jail while 339 were transferred to Ambedkar Nagar jail", said Ballia district jail superintendent.
A big band of officials remained busy in arranging buses for the shifting of the prisoners amidst tight security arrangements.
On the other hand, massive waterlogging in most of the city localities of Azamgarh had led to installation of heavy duty water pumps. Pant said that as the pumps up to 100 HP installed at different points were not providing sufficient support, more pumps of 150 HP and above capacity were being arranged.
The district magistrate Rajesh Kumar took stock of the situation in Azamgarh and ensured creation of shelter homes at six marriage halls and lawns, for those who wanted to leave their homes in waterlogged areas for safer places.