Close to 90 lakh people affected in Bihar floods; death toll

Close to nine million people were said to be affected by floods in Bihar till Thursday though the number of casualties remained unchanged, at 130, for the second consecutive day, according to the state disaster management department.

The number of people affected by floods, according to the department, has reached 88.46 lakh and they are spread across 1269 Panchayats falling under 111 blocks of 13 districts.

At a programme for environment conservation that he kicked off earlier in the day, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grave concern on climate change which he blamed for the flash floods that have ravaged several parts of the state despite the overall rainfall remaining short of normal levels.

The chief minister pointed out that the state used to receive annual rainfall in excess of 1200 mm in the 1970s, which has come down to less than 1000 mm for more than a decade, yet unusually heavy rainfall over a period of a few days, especially in catchment areas of adjoining Nepal, caused the calamity last month as it had done two years ago.

He also called for concerted efforts towards environment conservation which could reverse climate change and protect the planet from further destruction in the name of development.

Torrential rainfall in Nepal in the second week of July, besides heavy showers in districts of Bihar situated on the border, had caused half a dozen rivers including Bagmati, Kamla, Khiroi and Burhi Gandak to swell, which continue to be above danger level at many places.

Relief and rehabilitation is in full swing with the state government being assisted in the operations by 19 teams of the NDRF. Last week, two helicopters were sent by the Indian Air Force for air dropping food and other relief material.