Overview
- The Gomti pushed from northern fringes into central Lucknow on Thursday, flooding Gomti Nagar Extension, Shaheed Path, Faizullaganj, Sector 7 and areas near Ekana Stadium and the Phoenix Palassio mall.
- Irrigation officers say the flood was caused by large discharges from the Gomti’s catchment in Pilibhit, Lakhimpur and Sitapur rather than local rain, with the river moving about 30 km per day and key gauges rising near 2008 flood levels.
- Thousands of residents were trapped or isolated in at least 20 colonies, with many reporting shortages of food, safe drinking water and medicines and complaints that relief had not reached some pockets.
- Authorities scaled up relief and engineering work, deploying 90 boats, setting up shelters, distributing food and water, building a temporary boulder-and-soil barrier and putting 26 LDA pumping sets to work, with officials reporting measurable drainage improvement by 5 pm Thursday.
- The flooding has intensified political scrutiny of drainage and Smart City infrastructure and officials warn they will keep upstream and downstream gauges under constant watch for further rises that could renew inundation.