Agra: The water level in the Yamuna river continued to rise in Uttar Pradesh's Agra and Mathura districts, cutting off dozens of villages and inundating agricultural fields.
Water also entered the moat of the magnificent, 16th century Agra Fort and the Kailash temple on the Agra-Delhi highway.
In Vrindavan in Mathura district, at least a dozen areas were flooded and people were forced to move to safer places.
The river was flowing 1.71 metres above the danger level of 165.2 metres at Mathura, an official said.
The second unit of the Bear Rescue Centre in Mathura was also affected and the bears were moved to higher enclosures.
In Agra, over 40,000 acres of agricultural land has come under water, said district agriculture officer Tilak Singh.
Crops destroyed
The standing til (sesame) and bajra crops, and vegetables have been destroyed in villages along the river bank like Mehra Naharganj, Mahal Badshahi, Tanaura, Noorpur and Manoharpur.
In Kheragarh sub-district, the Sarendhi dam overflowed, flooding large tracts of agricultural land.
Also, the water flow from the Mantola nullah near the Taj Mahal entered the moat of the Agra Fort past midnight. The river water also entered the Kailash temple on the Agra-Delhi highway. Manoharpur, Bahadurpur, Tanaura and Noorpur were the worst affected villages in Agra, officials said.
Official sources said they expected the water level to rise to 152 metres. Yesterday it stood at 151 metres.
District Magistrate Amrit Abhijaat told the media that the army would be called in if required.
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) is helping India in rushing relief supplies to millions of people uprooted from their homes in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand by heavy floods.
The agency has supplied tarpaulin sheets, jerry cans, water purification tablets and mosquito nets, among other items, to more than 8,000 displaced families in Uttar Pradesh.
It has also pre-positioned its supplies in 10 high-risk districts to help 10,000 families.
Nearly 1.7 million people in Uttar Pradesh have been affected by heavy rainfall and floods in the major rivers of the state, Unicef noted in a news release. The state government there has set up 276 relief posts to distribute food and health supplies.
Meanwhile, the breach of support embankments of the Gandhak River has resulted in the flooding of 35 villages in Gopalganj and Siwan districts in Bihar.
Unicef sent supplies to Gopalganj following a request by the state government.
