Varanasi, Aug 25: Heavy rains lashed Varanasi overnight, causing waterlogging at several places and leaving five people dead in separate rain-related incidents, including electrocution, officials said on Tuesday.
Several parts of the city were waterlogged following the heavy downpour since Monday night.
Sir Sunderlal Hospital at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was surrounded by water, causing inconvenience to patients and their attendants.
With the Ganga’s water level rising, the administration has prohibited boat operations in the river. Water has reached the Harishchandra and Manikarnika ghats, forcing cremations to be shifted to upper steps and rooftops.
The famous Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat was also performed on a rooftop instead of the ghat due to the rising water level.
According to police, Salimuddin (45) and his son Anees (17) died after being electrocuted while carrying out decoration work at a house in the Sigra police station area amid the rain.
In the Chetganj area, 50-year-old Triloki Modanwal suffered an electric shock while switching on a water cooler at a rented premises in Kali Mahal. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
In another incident, a wall of a house collapsed in the Manduadih Industrial Estate following the rain, burying a couple under the debris.
The couple, native of Bihar, were living in the rented accommodation, police said. (PTI)
