Bihar floods worsen, 38 lakh people affected in 12 districts

Patna: The flood havoc in Bihar is continuously worsening as people in 12 districts are bearing the brunt of floods due to overflow in almost all major rivers and tributaries in the state. Over 38 lakh people of the state are affected by the floods, while 11 people have died so far in various incidents.

Meanwhile, the government is claiming relief and rescue work is on. The report of the Department of Water Resources states that Kosi has a trend of increasing the water level. The water level of Kosi near Veerpur Barrage was 1.83 lakh cusecs at 6 am on Thursday, which has increased to 1.86 lakh cusecs. Water level of the Gandak river remains stable. The drainage of Gandak has reached 1.91 lakh cusecs at 8 am at Balmikinagar Barrage.

Almost all the rivers of the state are flowing above the danger mark. Ganga, Bagmati, Budhi Gandak, Kamala Balan, Mahananda are flowing above the danger mark in many areas.

Additional Secretary of Disaster Management Department Ramchandra Do said that 901 panchayats of a total of 102 blocks of 12 districts of Bihar have been affected by the floods. About 38 lakh population in these areas have been affected by the floods.

He claimed that 19 relief camps have been opened in these areas, where more than 25,000 people are staying. Apart from this, a total of 989 community kitchens are being run in the flood-affected areas, in which more than five lakh people are getting food daily.

He said that NDRF and SDRF teams are doing relief and rescue work in all flood-affected districts. He said that teams of NDRF and SDRF have so far evacuated more than three lakh people trapped in the floods.

Due to floods, the problems of people have increased in the flood-affected areas. People are leaving their homes and taking shelter on the roofs of pucca houses or other high places. The situation in Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Gopalganj, East Champaran is quite grim.