The rising level of water in the Gomti River in Lucknow has triggered a flood-like situation in parts of the city, with water now reaching Shaheed Path, and the service lane towards Phoenix Palassio Mall completely submerged. The mall’s service lane has since been closed to traffic. The floodwater has left the residents shocked as the area is known for its wide roads and recent high-end redevelopment.
The boats and steamers are being used to facilitate movement in Saitha, Daulat Kheda, Munnu Kheda, Tand Kheda, Sukhlal Kheda, Gulmi Kheda and Hayatganj, among other areas. Twelve temporary night shelters have also been set up — 10 in Daud Nagar and one each in Loharamau and Millat Nagar. For rescue operations and delivery of relief material, the administration has deployed 90 boats and multiple teams are assisting with loading, unloading and distribution of supplies.
The waterlogging trouble in Lucknow has sparked politics as Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at the state government. He shared a video of the waterlogged area around the mall on X and alleged that drains and sewers had been clogged due to corruption linked to the Smart City project.
“Kashi na ban paaya Kyoto, aur na Gorakhpur Spain, Par Lucknow Venice bana, chhina sab sukh-chain! (Varanasi could not become Kyoto, neither could Gorakhpur become Spain, Lucknow however has turned into Venice, taking away all happiness and peace!” the SP Chief said in the post, satirically hinting towards the famous phrase “Muskuraaiye, aap Lucknow mein hain (Smile, you are in Lucknow)”. Calling the situation a big failure of the BJP government, he said the party “wants every good thing to be ruined”. Akhilesh Yadav said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath did not take advice from engineers of various departments, else “there would have been no flood situation anywhere in Lucknow”. The Congress, meanwhile, said a delegation of its party visited flood-affected Faizullaganj and its workers and leaders would distribute relief and other assistance material in affected areas.
