Death toll in Bihar flood rises to 123; situation worsens

The death toll in Bihar flood rose to 123 on Wednesday with 17 people losing their lives, as the situation in the 12 affected districts worsened due to heavy rainfall in the past two days.

According to the state disaster management department, the death toll in the worst-affected Sitamarhi district rose to 37 from 27.

Five more people died in Madhubani raising the death toll to 30 there, while in Muzaffarpur the figure rose from two to four.

Death figures remained unchanged for eight other districts Araria (12), Sheohar and Darbhanga (10 each), Purnea (nine), Kishanganj (five), Supaul (three), East Champaran (two) and Saharsa (one) while Katihar has reported no casualties yet.

The department has put the total number of people affected by the floods at 81.57 lakh in 105 blocks of 12 districts.

Food is being prepared for the flood victims at 835 community kitchens and those displaced by the calamity are taking shelter at 42 relief camps.

Water levels had begun to recede in the areas hit by flood which were caused by torrential rainfall in catchment areas of Nepal earlier this month.

However, many districts in the state received very heavy rainfall on Wednesday, causing the situation to worsen, the disaster management department said.

The overall average rainfall received by the state stood at 28.9 mm, 221 per cent above normal, it said.

Many parts of West Champaran, which has so far not been counted among the flood-hit districts, were submerged as rivers swelled.

An NDRF release said in view of the change in flood situation, the force has shifted one of its teams from Sitamarhi to West Champaran and another team deployed at Katihar has been asked to move to Gopalganj.

Meanwhile, the Central Air Command said, in a statement, that in response to a request by the Bihar government, it has deployed two helicopters at Darbhanga to provide relief to flood victims in Darbhanga, Madhubani and Sitamarhi.