IANS

Lucknow, Aug 9: The flood toll in Uttar Pradesh has risen to 173 while preliminary estimates have put losses at Rs.22.23 million, officials said on Thursday as they stepped up efforts to contain outbreak of diseases like dengue and encephalitis.

Six people died on Wednesday in different parts of the state due to the floods, official sources said, taking the total number of people killed to 173. "Overall losses were estimated at Rs.22.23 million. We have already sent a request to the centre to compensate us," state relief commissioner Umesh Sinha told IANS.

Uttar Pradesh has 70 districts of which 15 have been badly hit by overflowing waters of three major rivers originating from neighbouring Nepal. While a continued dry spell over the past few days has brought down the water levels of the rivers that were in spate, the receding trend has thrown up a new challenge for the official machinery.

"Our main worry now is to ensure a tab on the outbreak of diseases like encephalitis or dengue that have in the past caused havoc in the post-flood period in these areas," Sinha said.

"In order to tackle such problems, we have geared up the health machinery to carry out proper spraying of disinfectants and proper sanitation in the rural areas. Necessary medicines will be made available at all village primary health centres."

As many as 1,300 villages were inundated by floodwaters and about 200,000 people had to abandon their homes in search of safer places. Nearly two million people in the state were affected by this year's monsoon fury. About 330,000 hectares of agricultural land was submerged and about 100 cattle perished due to the floods.