Bihar flood toll rises to 92; CM launches scheme to provide financial aid

The flood situation in Bihar remained grim Friday with the death of 14 people, taking the toll to 92, as around 67 lakh people were affected in 12 districts of the state, officials said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a drive under which Rs 181 crore was disbursed among the affected people through direct cash transfer and each of the flood-hit family got Rs 6,000.

The death toll, which stood at 78 on Thursday, included 27 from Sitamarhi, the district worst affected by floods which hit the state in the wake of torrential rains in catchment areas of Nepal last week.

Other districts that reported flood-related deaths were Madhubani (14), Araria (12), Sheohar (10), Darbhanga and Purnea (nine each), Kishanganj (five), Supaul (three), East Champaran (two) and Saharsa (one), the department said.

Only two of the 12 districts Muzaffarpur and Katihar have reported no deaths so far.

A total of 66.76 lakh people in 1,107 panchayats have been hit by flooding.

Meanwhile, the chief minister kicked off a programme to provide financial aid to the flood victims under the Public Financial Management System, in which Rs 181.39 crore was transferred to the accounts of 3.02 lakh families in the initial phase.

More beneficiaries are likely to be covered after verification by local administrations, a CMO release said.

Kumar lamented that many people are still unaware of various welfare schemes and instructed officials to identify flood victims without bank accounts and do the needful so that they too received the aid in time.

In East Champaran district, flood victims thronged the block headquarters of Chiraiya complaining about "inadequate and discriminatory" distribution of relief materials and allegedly roughed up an official.

The police, however, did not confirm the assault the footage of which was aired on local news channels, and said it would take action after verifying the matter with the said official.

A release by the National Disaster Response Force said the life of a 38-year-old snakebite victim was saved as he was rushed to a primary health centre from his flood-hit village in Madhubani district in a boat manned by NDRF personnel.

Vijay Sinha, Commandant, 9 Battalion NDRF headquartered near Patna, said the force has rescued 4,500 families in districts like Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Araria, Katihar and Muzaffarpur.

He said "river ambulances" operated by the NDRF have so far provided medical assistance to more than 1,600 people.