Varanasi: The Ganga surged towards the warning level on Sunday, rising sharply at 5 centimetres per hour and crossing 69.26 metres by 2 pm, just a metre short of the 70.26-metre warning mark. The swift rise triggered panic in low-lying areas, particularly along the Varuna, where several localities were already inundated.According to the Central Water Commission, the Ganga continued to rise at a rate of 5 centimetres per hour after crossing 69 metres. Its water level, recorded at 68 metres at 8 am on Saturday, rose by more than 1.26 metres over the next 30 hours.Monitoring the flood relief works, ADM (finance and revenue) Sadanand Gupta said authorities were maintaining a sharp vigil, particularly in low-lying areas along the Varuna, which has been flooded by the Ganga. The rising water level has reached the ground floors of around 35 houses in three localities — Nakkhighat, Saraiyya and Salarpur. People were being alerted to leave their homes and move to safer places, including the relief camps operationalised at 61 locations along the Varuna and Ganga, he said.Gupta added that when the water level had approached the warning mark on August 22, some families had taken shelter in the relief camps but returned home after the water level receded.The sharp rise in the Ganga prompted authorities to intensify monitoring along all 86 ghats, many of which were submerged as floodwater began moving towards adjoining lanes and low-lying localities. Religious activities and cremation arrangements at Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats could not be restored to the lower platforms along the Ganga even after the water level began receding following Aug 22. With the fresh rise in the river, bathing space shrank considerably, while boat operations remained suspended.At Namo Ghat, the lower portion below the main road remained underwater, with the Namaste sculpture half-submerged. Ganga aartis, including the one at Dashashwamedh Ghat, continued to be performed from rooftops. Floodwater also re-entered the premises of the Goddess Sheetla Temple at Sheetla Ghat, affecting worship and darshan.
