In Uttar Pradesh, the flood situation remains grim in several districts. As many as 27 districts are still affected including worst affected Gonda and Barabanki where the Rapid Response Team of the National Disaster Management is conducting relief work in 24 villages. The relief work is also going on in one Tehsil of Gorakhpur which is affected due to flood of Rapti. One person has died in drowning incident in Gorakhpur. Several rivers including Ghaghra, Rapti, Ganga and Yamuna are on receding trend but they are still flowing above the danger mark at a few places. The river Ganga has become steady in Ghazipur and Ballia but it is still above the warning level. Rapti in Gorakhpur is flowing 64 centimetres below the danger mark with falling trend. However, according to state government, the situation has improved in 15 districts, where the relief distribution has been stopped. AIR Gorakhpur correspondent reports that the administration has now focussed its attention on checking the spread of the diseases in the flood affected areas. The people at many places are returning home as the flood water has receded from the villages. There is a dire need of sanitation and disinfection of the water sources. The sludge left behind by the flood water and the carcasses of animals are lying everywhere. Sprinkling of bleaching powder and disinfection of water sources have been taken up on a massive scale in Basti, Gonda, Bahraich and Barabanki. The government has said that the Panchayats are being provided with additional funds to conduct sanitation work on their own. The medical teams and voluntary agencies have taken up the task of providing medicine and vaccination to the affected people. However, for many people, it will take time to recover from the trauma of losing everything during the flood.In Uttar Pradesh nine more persons succumbed to Japanese encephalitis during last 24 hours taking the toll to 231 in Gorakhpur and Basti divisions of the state.Quoting official sources AIR Lucknow correspondent reports that four of the deceased hailed from Gorakhpur, two from Kushinagar and one each from Sant Kabir Nagar and Siddharth Nagar districts while one victim hailed from neighboring Bihar.