Boats are currently the preferred mode of transport on Varanasi roads that have been inundated by the swollen Ganga, which breached the danger level on Monday.

Floodwaters have taken over the 84 ghats in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, prompting the authorities to shift cremation and other religious rituals to nearby rooftops and elevated platforms.

Khidkiya ghat, which underwent a ₹1,000-crore renovation to be transformed into Namo Ghat, has been closed to public. The three massive folded hand sculptures, which were installed at the ghat as part of the facelift, have been completely submerged.

Bodies waiting to be cremated are piling up at the Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats because of limited available space on pavements for conducting the last rites.

The famed Ganga Aarti at the Dashashwamedh ghat is now being conducted on
rooftops.

According to the Central Water Commission, the Ganga was flowing at 72.1 metres on Monday morning, above the danger level of 71.262 metres.

The local administration said that 24 mohallas and 44 villages were marooned on Monday. Over 1,721 acres of agricultural land have gone underwater. Around 6,300 members from 1,410 families in the district have been shifted to safer places by teams of the National Disaster Response Force, officials said.

Social worker Saurabh Singh said he had not seen a flood of this magnitude in 10 years.

“The government’s relief camps are providing limited help to the people. I visited Lakhighat, Daniyalpur, Purana Pul and Ruppanpur Naibasti and distributed drinking water, bread, milk packets, biscuits, medicines and glucose to some of the affected families,” he said.

“According to media reports, over ₹5 lakh crore has been spent in the development of the Varanasi constituency. This includes ₹1,500 crore on the beautification of the ghats. But all has been lost to the flood now. We know that they will shovel in more funds to beautify the ghats once again,” he added.

District magistrate Satyendra Kumar blamed the situation on “excessive rain”.

“We have set up relief camps and reached out to the affected people,” he added.

Ironically, Modi had inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for development projects worth ₹2,200 crore during his 51st visit to Varanasi two days ago as its MP.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the administration was doing its job in all flood-affected districts, including Varanasi and Allahabad.