Thousands of people in Allahabad district have been forced to leave their homes and move to safer places after the Ganga and Yamuna began swelling alarmingly on Sunday.
The rivers are flowing one metre above the danger mark and the waters have inundated the low-lying areas in the city and hundreds of villages in the district have been flooded.
Official sources said that the water level of both the rivers was rising at the rate of one centimetre an hour.
As both the rivers rose menacingly flooding several low-lying areas, thousands fled their homes in search of safety.
Panic struck the Allahpur locality following a breach in an embankment erected to protect a sewage treatment plant. The gushing waters now threaten to wash away a sluice gate. Residents have been trying to plug the breach with the help of sand sacks.
The rising Ganga has already washed away a 20-foot-wide portion of the embankment alongside the sewage treatment plant (STP) near the historic Buxi Bund here, flooding more than 11 localities of the city and affecting a population of over one lakh.
The flood-affected areas include Allahpur, Sohbatiabagh, Allopibagh, Tagore Town, George Town, JLN Road, Taraganj, Darbhanga, Allenganj, Church Lane and adjoining localities.
The Buxi Bund separates more than half the city from the Ganga and the latest breach threatened to inundate a large number of upscale localities as well.
The local authorities have immediately requisitioned the Army’s help to plug the gap from which the seeping water had already caused a minor breach in the STP. The road leading to Buxi Bund has been barricaded.