Bihar rain: Major rivers receding; death toll rises to 97

The water of level of Punpun and Ganga rivers in Bihar continued to recede on Sunday, even as the death toll rose to 97 from 73 in 15 flood-affected districts of the state, officials said.

Other rivers including the Burhi Gandak, Kamala Balan, Baghmati, Mahananda are also showing a declining trend in water level, they said.

Punpun river's water level is receding at the rate of 3 cm per hour at Sripalpur, Patna District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said.

It has seen a fall of 90 cm since Saturday, he added.

Meanwhile, the death toll increased to 97 from 73 in the past 24 hours, as people lost their lives in the affected districts due to incidents of drowning, electrocution, house collapse and falling of trees, a disaster management department release said.

The number of dengue cases, too, have seen a sharp rise post the heavy downpour in the state capital, a release issued by the health department said.

A total of 409 cases of the vector-borne disease were reported in Patna between January to September 27, it said, adding the number jumped to 640 till October 5.

In order to check the spread of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases, sprinkling of larvicide temephos and fogging of insecticide malathion are underway in the worst- affected districts, the release said.

Though water has been drained out from most parts of Pataliputra and Kankerbagh areas, the process is still underway with the help of high-power pumps in places like Rajendra Nagar, the officials said.

The state government will organise special health camps on October 10, 11 and 12 at Patna Medical College & Hospital and Nalanda Medical College & Hospital for carrying out free tests for dengue, they said.