Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the loss of lives in Uttarakhand and noted that rescue operations are underway to help the affected.
Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on Nitish Kumar, saying the Janata Dal-United leader's "arrogance" and "ambition" to become prime minister drove him to split from BJP, and compared the socio-economic conditions of Muslims in Gujarat and Bihar to claim he practised "true" secularism.
The United Nations and its partners are supporting the governments of India and Nepal in search-and-rescue operations and providing assistance to thousands of people displaced due to landslides triggered by monsoonal rains in the two countries.
Even in times of disaster and distress, caste tensions continue to stay afloat at relief camps for flood victims in Bihar with reports coming in about Dalits at the Bihar Vidhyapeet Bhawan and B N collegiate camps in Patna being abused, humiliated and deprived of relief by some upper caste men, a district official said on Wednesday.
With the danger of flood looming large in the Kosi belt along Bihar-Nepal border, the Bihar government on Sunday ordered forcible evacuation of people living in the space between the river and its embankments in nine districts of the state.
The report Kosi Deluge: The Worst Is Still To Come is an assessment of why the river remains an enigma and why manmade interventions have turned it into `the sorrow of Bihar'.
'Jim Corbett was a remarkable man. There's a history behind Corbett and he deserves the honour of the area being the Jim Corbett National Park.'
The United Nations on Friday said that it has rushed its agencies to aid the government and independent bodies working to provide relief to the victims of floods in River Kosi on both Indian and Nepalese sides, where over one million people have been displaced from their homes.
The four-day Chhath Puja may be a Hindu festival, but Muslim families across Bihar are busy churning out earthen stoves for devotees.
In Uttar Pradesh, two persons were killed since Tuesday in the floods which have affected around 8.7 lakh people in 987 villages of 28 districts in the state.
Central Water Commission sources said the situation continued to be grim following incessant rains in the catchment areas of these rivers.
If you are a Bihari, you come with built-in patience and acceptance, points out Asmita Bihari.
The flood situation in Bihar continues grim with people climbing on rooftops of educational institutions for safety, even as such buildings are showing signs of collapse.
Swirling waters inundated 12 districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar.
With major rivers overflowing due to incessant rainfall, life has come to a stand-still for people in parts of Bihar and Assam.
In another dig at Kumar for joining hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad, Modi reeled out Bihar police crime figure to claim "Jungle raj has begun to knock Bihar."
Major rivers like Bagmati, Kosi, Kresh and Gandak continued to recede, a Central Water Commission report said.
Chhath, a festival to worship the Sun God, was celebrated on Saturday with lakhs of devotees, mostly women, thronging the ghats of numerous rivers in Bihar. The ghats of the Ganga, Kosi, Kiul, Bagmati, Kamla Balan, Gandak and Burhi Gandak, besides thousands of ponds, were thronged by worshippers, who offered prasad cooked in pure ghee and mixed with sugar, raisins, coconuts, flour, fruits and sugarcane. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's sister led the family in performing puja.
Nearly two million population spread over eight districts in Bihar continued to reel under the impact of floods as the overall situation remained unchanged with major rivers, including Punpun, Bagmati and Kosi, in spate.
Over two million people in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Saharsa, East Champaran, Supaul, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Patna, Katihar and Bhagalpur are reeling under the impact of the calamities
'Did the government learn any lesson from the disasters of 2008, 1987, 1975?' 'Certainly not!' 'They are making people believe that the 2017 flood was unexpected, so no preventive effort towards reducing the loss of human lives was to be expected from the government,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The scenic mountainous valley, which earlier bustled with presence of foreign tourists, now wear a deserted look. Kunal Dutt reports
Year after year, floods cause mayhem in Bihar but the government is not paying adequate attention to water management.
Hungry and desperate for food, over 100 flood victims in Bihar's Nalanda district broke into a government warehouse and looted food grain on Monday to protest inadequate assistance given to them by the government, officials said.
'Villages are much better prepared than towns as far as COVID-19 is concerned.'
With reports of eight fresh deaths on Thursday, the total toll in Bihar flood increased to 135, with Bhojpur district accounting for 12 deaths in the second round of floods due to the swollen Ganga.
With four more deaths, the toll in Bihar floods on Saturday increased to 153, while 12 more panchayat areas were inundated affecting a total population of 34.69 lakh in twelve districts.
What does one do when one day, out of the blue, one is told to go on a road trip to the Everest Base Camp?
About 1.82 lakh people have been evacuated to safe places by the rescue teams in last 48 hours.
Heavy rainfall and high speed wind has badly affected normal life in Bihar in last 24 hours because of cyclonic storm Phailin impact of cyclonic storm. "More heavy rains are expected in Bihar in next 24 hours," a met department official said.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh government banned its proposed 'Sankalp Diwas' rally, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday vowed to go ahead with its programme even as the district administration said it was determined to thwart any such plan.
Very heavy rains are expected over north Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim in the next 48 hours, with cyclonic storm Phailin now closer to the Chattisgarh-Odisha border, the National Disaster Management Authority has said.
The floods have also damaged crops in 2 lakh hectares of land.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 48 hours.
The water level of major rivers, including the Ganga and the Yamuna, in Uttar Pradesh has crossed the danger mark at several places.
Floods have ravaged 12 of the 37 districts in the state -- the worst-affected being Patna, Vaishali, Bhojpur, Khagaria and Samastipur districts.
The four-day long Chhath festival ended on Thursday with millions, braving the chill and taking a dip in the river to offer prayers to the rising sun.
The Samajwadi Party government went overboard in deploying nearly 10,000 policemen to patrol the streets of Ayodhya to prevent the VHP from carrying out its 84-kosi parikrama, reports Sharat Pradhan
A total 4.16 lakh people have been evacuated so far from the 12 flood-affected districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar.
These Muslim women are poor and illiterate but, with the devotion they display as they create handmade earthen stoves for Chhath, they strengthen the social fabric, says M I Khan.
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