LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: More than three lakh people in seven Uttar Pradesh districts along the terai were hit by swirling river waters by Saturday afternoon, with a cloudburst in Nepal, release of waters from its barrages, and heavy rain in the catchment area of the Himalayan rivers being the foremost cause of people's misery. District administrations of Bahraich and Lakhimpuri Kheri said around 300 people are missing, with fears being expressed that they might have got swept away.Nearly 500 villages in Bahraich, Shrawasti, and Lakhimpur Kheri are hit, mostly by a swollen Rapti, with Ghaghara, another perennial trans-boundary river originating on the Tibetan plateau near Lake Mansarovar , flowing above the danger mark in Barabanki, Siddharth Nagar and Faizabad.While the Rapti is flooding owing to Bhalubang, Bhairahwa and Kusum barrages in Nepal releasing excess water, Ghaghara has swollen due to release of flood waters from the Chisapani barrage in Nepal. Ghaghara is called the Karnali in Nepal. The other terai rivers in spate are Saryu and Sharda."Waters in the Saryu barrage reached their highest-ever levels on Friday as a result of the cloud burst, breaching the 2.5 lakh cusecs mark. To ensure that the dams are not affected, we have opened all the flood gates. Water started to recede on Saturday. But problems persist on the Nepal side," said Uttar Pradesh principal secretary irrigation, Deepak Singhal.In light of the flood waters rising in Uttarakhand, UP and Bihar, the Centre called an emergency meeting of the three states to take stock of rescue operations on Friday. UP officials said helicopter services, food packets and boats have been deployed in the affected areas to bail out stranded villagers. The rising water level posed threat to Dudhwa and Suhelva wildlife sanctuaries famous for their tigers, leopards, bears and their preys.Issuing flood alert for the entire area along the Rapti on its both sides, the Central Water Commission on said, "The Rapti in Balrampur district is flowing in high flood situation." The high flood situation or HFS is considered dangerous.The National Crisis Management Committee under chairmanship of cabinet secretary Ajit Seth took stock of the preparedness in the wake of floods in Nepal. National Disaster Response Force teams are on alert for rescue operations in Nepal, if required."Three helicopters have been kept on the stand-by at Gorakhpur for this," said ministry of water resources statement. "The flood situation in UP and Bihar and recent heavy rains and cloudburst in Uttarakhand were also reviewed with the state governments," the statement added.(A view of the marooned village in Bahraich on Saturday.)In Bahraich, around 470 villages of Balha, Mihipurwa and Shivpu blocks are submerged under water following damage to the Saryu canal. District administration feared several hundred people might have got swept away in the flood and were untraceable until Saturday evening. Six people along with two girls too went missing after a boat capsized in Ghaghara in Dhaurahra, Lakhimpur Kheri. The district administrations of Bahraich and Shravasti could not confirmed the death toll as a result of the floods.Flood waters have caused damage worth crores of rupees with crops, cattle and 'kachcha' houses washed away. Flood waters blocked the Bahraich-Bhinga (district headquarters of Shrawasti) road and affected rail traffic on the Gonda-Mailani line. On Saturday, nine schools in Lakhimpur Kheri were ordered shut after being submerged in the flood waters. Waters also entered into five branches of Allahabad bank and 16 branches of Lucknow regional rural banks affecting banking services in the low-lying areas.(With inputs from Bipin Chandra Agarwal in Bahraich, Swati Mathur in Lucknow and Vishwamohan in New Delhi)