The death toll in Bihar floods today mounted to 64 with over 33 lakh people spread across 13 districts affected by the deluge.
Over 500 people have perished in the current spell of floods in Bihar with fresh reports of 23 deaths from six flood-hit districts on Monday as nearly 20.5 million people continue to reel under the impact of floods in 20 districts.
Tracking hundreds of missing people, particularly women and children, in flood-hit Bihar is proving to be the biggest challenge for the state government and the non governmental organisations involved in relief and rehabilitation.Hundreds of people were seen queuing up in front of relief camps in the flood-affected districts of Madhepura, Saharsa, Supaul, Purnia and Araria to trace their missing family members. Thousands of people have been separated from their families.
State disaster management department officials said seven people lost their lives due to floods in Muzaffarpur district, while around 65,000 people of 140 villages in Muzaffarpur, Supaul, Patna, Nalanda and Saharsa districts were affected by the deluge.
Deputy Secretary (Relief) Upendra Sharma said one Indian Air Force chopper and a column of the army comprising around 60 men with motorboats were pressed into service Saturday morning to provide relief and evacuate people.
The disaster management department sources said reports of 20 more deaths have come from Darbhanga (5), Sitamarhi (8) and Samastipur (7) in the last 48 hours.
Year after year, floods cause mayhem in Bihar but the government is not paying adequate attention to water management.
Of these, 290 were reported from the three worst-hit districts of Darbhanga, Samastipur and Sitamarhi, disaster management sources told PTI in Patna.
But the overall flood situation in the state improved with major rivers maintaining a receding trend.
People lost their lives in the affected districts due to incidents of drowning, electrocution, house collapse and falling of trees, a disaster management department release said.
Thousands of people in Darbhanga, West Champaran and Nalanda districts in Bihar have been affected by floods after rivers flowing through these districts breached their embankments. Floods occurred in Darbhanga and West Champaran districts after breaches developed in the embankments of Kamla Balan and Gandak rivers respectively, while in Nalanda it was due to the overflowing of Panchane river.
Faced with floods that affected over 20 million people, the Bihar government has sanctioned a whopping sum of Rs 1,000 crore to compensate the losses suffered by flood victims in the state.
The district administration has banned the sale of motor fuels without a permit from the district supply officer in order to stock reserves of petrol and diesel for vehicles to be used for flood-fighting and relief operations.
The distribution of relief materials was badly hit due to heavy rains
The toll rises to 292; major rivers are still in spate
The flood victims reportedly resisted a police bid to dig up land beneath a railway track to drain out flood water from Madhubani town and they reportedly threw stones at the police.
One more person died in floods in Patna district, taking the toll due to inundation in Bihar to 10 even as major rivers on Tuesday showed receding trend.
At least nine people have been killed and 3 lakh affected by floods in Bihar as major rivers continue to overflow after crossing the danger mark at several places in the state.
Major rivers, though receding, continued to flow above the danger mark at several places, a Central Water Commission release said.
The disaster management department said that the state government has urged the Indian Air Force to send a helicopter for air-dropping of food packets and other relief material in marooned areas.
The flood situation in Bihar is showing signs of improvement after the swollen rivers started receding on Friday. For nearly a week major rivers like Ganga had wreaked havoc in the state.
A group of flood victims were protesting against the lack of relief materials and irregularities before the local administration.
With over 20 lakh people bearing the brunt of floods in 14 districts of Bihar, three Indian Air Force helicopters continued to drop relief materials in the worst hit Supaul, Araria and Madhepura for the fifth successive day on Monday as the turbulent waters of the Kosi submerged fresh areas in the three districts.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah pledged the BJP will recover funds allegedly stolen by the TMC in Bengal and promised development schemes for North Bengal, while attacking Mamata Banerjee's governance.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has accused the BJP-led central government of playing 'dangerous games' with Punjab, alleging the misuse of agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI for political purposes.
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.
Twenty teams of the NDRF, comprising about 900 rescue persons, have been deployed in the state.
5.56 lakh people have been rescued so far from the 12 flood-affected districts. The government is plying 2,821 boats for evacuation.
K Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, has launched a new political party, Telangana Rashtra Sena (TRS), after her suspension from the BRS, marking a new chapter in Telangana politics.
Floods have forced people to eat rats to survive as there is nothing left to eat. M I Khan reports from Patna.
Hundreds of families of missing people in the flood-affected districts of Madhepura, Saharsa, Supaul, Purnia and Araria, are optimistic that their missing kin will be traced. They have been running from pillar to post ever since water receded to get information about their dear ones.
At least 38 people have been killed and 18.6 lakh affected by floods in Bihar as major rivers continue to overflow after crossing the danger mark at several places in the state. The district-wise break-up of deaths are Muzaffarpur (1), Saharsa (3), Gopalganj (2), Madhepura (1), West Champaran (4), Bhojpur (10), Purnia (1), Madhubani (2), Katihar (2), Samastipur (2), Vaishali (4), Bhagalpur (4) and Lakhisarai (2), according to State Disaster Management sources.
The flood situation in Bihar remained grim on Monday with more than 10 lakh people affected and thousands forced to flee their homes and take shelter on highrise embankments, national highways, railway lines and in schools and other buildings
The flood situation in Bihar showed signs of improvement with major rivers maintaining a receding trend, even as four more deaths were reported from Darbhanga district, taking the total toll to 81.
Rajasthan (73 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (67) and Delhi (60) saw the highest share of districts reporting excess to large excess rainfall.
The worst-hit Sitamarhi district accounted for 22 deaths.
