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.
The death toll due to heavy rains and flash floods caused by a deep depression in Andhra Pradesh has risen to 41 on Saturday morning, according to the official count.
As voting begins in Bihar in the first phase of assembly elections on Wednesday, the fate of political leaders depends on how the electorate perceives they can solve ground-level issues from reverse migration to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Official figures say 1.8 lakh workers have returned home to Bihar. Unofficially, however, that figure is said to have crossed 3 lakhs. Can Bihar cope?
A day after Cyclone Yaas tore through coastal Odisha and Bengal to cause havoc as far as Jharkhand, tornadoes, torrential rains, bridge collapses and swelling rivers continued to plague eastern India as people tried to pick up their lives amid the debris of swept away mud homes and swamped farmlands.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over phone and discussed about the prevailing condition on Monday.
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.
Sixty-eight homes have been destroyed. Sri Lankan capital Colombo was the worst hit with many roads submerged.
Participating in a video conference along with chief ministers of other states, Kumar spoke about many states having arranged for return of students from the Rajasthan town, and also made an oblique reference to the pressure from opposition parties that his government has been facing on the issue.
The Santacruz observatory recorded 286.4 mm rainfall during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, making it the fourth highest rainfall in Mumbai since 1974, an Indian Meteorological Department official said.
Swirling waters inundated 12 districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar.
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.
Party leaders are being forced to bite the tongue while answering queries on cut money and alleged arrogance of local TMC leaders.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast 'extremely heavy rains' at a few places in Marathwada, Mumbai and other parts of the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra in the next 24 hours.
What worries state officials is that Bihar expects to receive more than 1 million migrant workers by the end of May.
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.
The boat was carrying around 40 people and turned turtle when it was about to reach the river bank.
The UNICEF said an estimated 2.4 million children have been affected by the recent floods in the country.
National Disaster Response Force personnel left the spot, while State Disaster Management Department personnel continued their rescue work at the accident site with cranes, earth movers and drilling machines.
No immediate relief appears in sight as the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for six districts which have been already pounded by downpour, forecasting "extremely heavy" rainfall and recommending preventive actions.
Assam has suffered huge losses in terms of lives, property, cropped land, dwellings and infrastructure in three waves of flood that have hit the state so far this year. Last week's deluge wreaked havoc in Kamrup and Goalpara claiming 67 lives and leaving behind a trail of destruction.
Swirling waters inundated 12 districts in the state.
The floods have also damaged crops in 2 lakh hectares of land.
The brutal weeks-long heat wave has killed more than 2,000 people, authorities announced on Saturday, with the toll highest in Telangana at 541.
In Assam, nearly 27.80 lakh people across 26 districts have been affected by the deluge. The deaths were reported from the Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Morigaon districts. The death toll due to floods and landslides this year has risen to 122.
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.
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.
The landslides have caused extensive damage to NH 10 and NH 55, cutting off road and telecommunication link to Darjeeling and Sikkim.
All educational institutions in Shimla and Kullu districts will remain closed on Monday as heavy to extremely heavy rains continue to lash the state, district officials said.
Floods have ravaged 12 of the 37 districts in the state -- the worst-affected being Patna, Vaishali, Bhojpur, Khagaria and Samastipur districts.
With the rise in level of the Ganga, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed apprehension of further rise in water level by Monday in view of release of water from Bansagar dam as flood-like situation prevailed in the state.
The flood situation on Sunday worsened in Bihar where two more people lost their lives taking the death toll to 36, while flood waters entered fresh areas, pushing up the number of affected districts to 17.
Stifling heat has killed more than 1,242 people in India in less than one week.
Working round-the-clock to help flood victims in Bihar, National Disaster Response Force personnel rendered timely help to three marooned pregnant women at separate places deliver their babies safely.
Nine persons have lost their lives in the recent floods in five districts of West Bengal, state disaster management department sources said on Thursday.
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