Bihar Flood: Death toll mounts to 40, IAF chopper drops relief material in Patna

As many as 40 people have died and many are injured in the state due to incessant rain and floods in many parts of Bihar, officials said on Tuesday.

According to the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority, 40 people are dead whereas nine are injured, due to heavy rainfall and flooding in the state.

On Tuesday, the government deployed IAF choppers to assist in relief and rescue operations. Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter dropped relief materials in the flood-affected areas of Rajendra Nagar in the state capital. Boats were also being used to rescue stranded residents from the area.

Overlooking relief work in the Rajendra Nagar area, NDRF Commandant Vijay Sinha told ANI, "Since yesterday 6000-7000 people including the elderly and patients have been rescued from the area. We are now concentrating on distribution of relief materials."

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 19 teams in 14 districts of Bihar. Five teams are operational at Patna, two are deployed at Bhagalpur and one team each at Buxar, Munger, Begusarai, Gopalganj, Kishanganj, Katihar, Khagaria, Madhubani, Supaul, Vaishali, Araria and Darbhanga.

"More than 200 rescuers with 36 rescue boats are engaged to evacuate the people to safer places. More than 4,000 affected people have been evacuated that includes women, patients, children and elderly and shifted to the safer places by NDRF in Patna. The operations continue in Bihar," the NDRF said in a statement on September 30.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had visited the severely flooded areas of the state capital and issued necessary instructions to the officials for resolving the issue.

As per the weather forecasting report by India Meteorological Department, Patna is likely to receive more rainfall for the next few days accompanied by thunderstorms.