UP: Ganga swells to danger mark in Varanasi, Varuna floods trigger evacuations

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 2 (ANI): The levels of Ganga river has risen in Varanasi, and its rising water level has begun impacting its tributaries, creating a flood-like situation in parts of the city. The Varuna River, a key tributary, has taken a fierce form due to the swelling Ganga, forcing evacuations along its banks as water begins entering residential areas.
At the same time, the Ganga River has reached close to the danger mark because heavy rains have been happening from the mountains to the plains for several days.
According to the Central Water Commission, the river is currently flowing at 69.98 metres, which is very close to the 71.26-metre danger mark in Varanasi.
Floodwaters have already reached the top of Tulsi Ghat in Varanasi. In response to the deteriorating situation, all boats running on the Ganga have been banned.
Overall, the fierce form of Ganga has now started appearing, and Ganga can cross the danger level anytime.
A visitor named Rani Kumari who came for a darshan at Kashi shared her experience with ANI and said, "We had come to Banaras to do Ganga Aarti, have a good darshan of Kashi, and to roam around the city, but the water level has risen so much that we are not able to roam around due to the flood."
Another visitor named Gaurav, who came from Kolkata to roam around Banaras, said, "We have come from Kolkata to roam around Banaras. We could not see even one of the ghats properly. Security is closed everywhere, so we can't go anywhere. We couldn't even bathe because the water level has risen so high that nothing can be done here."
He added, "We can't even pour water on our bodies in the ghats, let alone bathing, due to the floods. The water has risen to an extremely high level, plus we couldn't travel in the boat properly. We thought we would roam around in the boat and see all the ghats, including Chaurasi ghat, but we are unable to do so."
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the forecast for Saturday in Varanasi is: "Partly cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers." The maximum temperature is expected to be 31 degrees and the minimum to be 24 degrees. (ANI)