Bihar floods claim 3 more, ebbing waters lay bare the damage

Three more deaths were reported today from Bihar where receding waters are laying bare the trail of destruction caused by floods.
The national capital experienced sunny and sultry weather with the mercury settling two notches above normal.
"The maximum temperature was recorded at 35.6 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal, while the minimum settled at 26.1 degrees Celsius," a MeT official said.
The toll in Bihar floods increased to 216 though the situation appears to be easing with majority of rivers, including the Ganga now flowing below danger marks.
The three fresh deaths were reported from Saran district, a Disaster Management Department statement said.

Officials said five concrete houses have collapsed, while 466 kucha home were washed away and 2774 huts destroyed by the surging waters.

A total 135 cattle have died so far while assessment of damage to agricultural lands and crops is on.
The floods that have affected 40.60 lakh people in 2,210 villages in 12 districts, have forced shifting of 3.95 lakh people.
The government has deployed 3,082 boats for evacuation, while national and state disaster response forces teams are working in the affected districts.
According to Water Resources Department, Punpun river at Sripalpur in Patna, Kamlabalan river at Jhanjharpur and Kosi river at Baltara in Khagaria district were flowing above danger level.

But other rivers, including the Ganga, were flowing below the danger mark, the release said.
Meanwhile, light to moderate rainfall occurred at a few places in the state and heavy rainfall was recorded at one or two places in Lakhisarai and Begusarai districts.
In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, light to moderate rains and thundershowers occurred at isolated places where Meja received 3 cm of rainfall while Marihau, Varanasi and Moth 1 cm each.
Meanwhile, the weatherman today forecast cloudy weather with rainfall in the sub-Himalayan districts of West Bengal tomorrow.
Kolkata received little rainfall during the day and its maximum temperature during the day was 31.9 degrees Celsius.