Bihar flood situation remains grim; 74 lakh affected in 16 districts

The flood situation in Bihar

remained grim on Sunday as 87,000 more people were affected by the deluge, a Disaster Management Department bulletin said.

The total number of flood-affected people in the state has risen to 74 lakh, while deaths caused due to the deluge stood at 23, it said.

The deluge has swamped 1,232 panchayat areas in 125 blocks of 16 districts, the bulletin said.

Darbhanga reported the highest number of flood-related fatalities at nine, followed by six in Muzaffarpur, four in West Champaran and two each in Saran and Siwan districts, it said.

Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur are the worst-hit with a combined affected population of 34 lakh.

Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, West Champaran, East Champaran, Khagaria, Saran, Samastipur, Siwan, Madhubani, Madhepura and Saharsa are the 16 flood-affected districts in the state.

A total of 5.08 lakh people have been evacuated from the deluge-hit areas so far during joint rescue operations conducted by 20 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 13 teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), it said.

A total of 11,849 people have been shifted to relief camps, while 9.46 lakh people were fed at 1,267 community kitchens in the affected areas during the day, the bulletin said.

A total of 9.86 lakh were fed at 1,342 community kitchens on Saturday. The drop in the numbers is partly because of the improvement of the flood situation in some areas, it said.

Rivers such as Baghmati, Burhi Gandak, Kamlabalan, Adhwara, Khiroi and Ghaghra are flowing above the danger levels.

Ganga is also flowing 17 cm above the danger mark at Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur. The river's water level rose by 1-4 cm at various places in the state, a bulletin issued by the Water Resources Department said.

The MeT Department here has forecast light rain on Monday in the catchment areas of all the rivers flowing through Bihar.