Ballia, Oct 3 (IANS): At least 939 prisoners in Ballia jail have been shifted to prisons in adjoining districts following water logging due to incessant rains.

Divisional Commissioner Azamgarh, Vijay Vishwas Pant, convened a meeting of officials on Saturday evening to finalise strategies for clearing of water from the inundated areas of Ballia and Azamgarh.

"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 in Azamgarh and Ambedkar Nagar districts," he said.

Ballia and some other districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh witnessed heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday, leading to water logging.

Heavy duty pumps were brought in to pump out the water.

Ballia district jail superintendent Lal Ratnakar Singh said that there was heavy waterlogging inside the barracks and officials issued order for shifting the prisoners.

"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," he said.

Officials arranged for buses and ensured tight security arrangements for the shifting of prisoners till late Saturday night.

In Azamgarh, six marriage halls were converted into shelter homes for those whose homes had been inundated with water.