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At least 20 people were killed in floods in Bihar and more than 500,000 affected in the state and Assam, where the army was asked to be on alert by civil authorities on Monday, following submerging of vast areas by rise in water level of the Brahmaputra.
Official sources in Patna said six people died in Muzaffarpur, three in Sitamarhi and one in Nawada districts on Sunday.
A woman and her two children were drowned in a boat capsize in the flooded Bagmati in Ratodha village in Muzaffarpur district. Three more died in a house collapse and other flood related incidents in the district. Three persons were drowned in another boat capsize in the swollen Retti river at Mghaul village in Sitamarhi district. A youth was drowned when he tried to swim to safety during a flash flood in the river Suri in Nawada district.
According to a Central Water Commission report, major rivers like Punpun, Bagmati and Budhi Gandak were flowing above the danger level.
Official sources said over 300,000 people had been affected by floods in over 250 villages in the districts of Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Sheohar.
A Guwahati report said the army was asked to be in a state of readiness in Assam as the flood situation turned grave with the mighty Brahmaputra inundating vast areas affecting more than 200,000 people.
"The army has been kept in readiness in several upper Assam districts including the worst-hit Dhemaji as the Brahmaputra maintained its rising trend all along its course," Flood Control Minister Nurzamal Sarkar said.
Rail communication between south Assam's Barak valley and the rest of the country was disrupted on Sunday night following a massive landslide between Bandarkhal and Damchera due to heavy rains.
Earlier Report: Bihar floods claim ten lives
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