New Delhi - At least 15 people died in heavy rains in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state over 24 hours, taking the countrywide death toll for rain-related incidents to 428, officials and news reports said Friday. Most of the deaths were caused by houses collapsing or flooding, the IANS news agency reported. Cattle also perished in the floods.
State officials said the deaths were reported from the central districts Barabanki, Kanpur, Unnao, Baharaich, Mainpuri and Firozabad.
The water levels Ghagra and Sharda rivers in the state crossed the danger mark after the sudden release of water in rivers from neighbouring Nepal, officials said.
Officials at the Department of National Disaster Management said the 428 killed in this year's monsoon were from the affected states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
India's monsoon season lasts from June to October but came a few weeks early this year. The rains are the heaviest in eastern India and gradually move across in a north-westerly direction.
The seasonal rains in 2007 were the most devastating in recent memory, with more than 3,200 people killed across several states.
