Bihar's flood-hit loot food grain from warehouse

Flood victims in Bihar's Nalanda district broke into a government warehouse and looted food grain Monday to protest inadequate assistance given to them by the government, officials said.

"Hundreds of flood victims forcibly broke open the lock of a godown (warehouse) of the state disaster management department at Sarmera block office in Nalanda in the presence of the police and looted rice and wheat," district official Sunil Kumar said.

He said the food grain looted from the godown were meant for relief distribution among flood victims.

According to Kumar, 80 bags of wheat and over 250 bags of rice were carried away by the looters.

Earlier, more than 2000 flood victims staged protest at block office, demanding adequate relief.

Flood victims in Bihar Sharif, the headquarters of Nalanda district, Aug 29 blocked roads for hours protesting what they called inadequate relief and compensation.

Nalanda is one of the 15 flood-affected districts in the state.

A few days ago, flood victims in Saharsa, Supaul and Khagaria also staged protests against insufficient relief given to them.

More than 1.8 million people have been affected by the floods with major rivers, including the Ganga, Kosi, Gandak and Bagmati, submerging large tracts of land and forcing thousands to be evacuated.

Till date, floods have claimed over 20 lives, including 12 in Nalanda.