Flood situation eases in Bihar, six rivers in spate

The flood situation in Bihar eased with no district remaining under water, but the Ganga and five other rivers are flowing above the danger mark in some places today.
No district, block or panchayat was under flood waters, but the Ganga and five other rivers were flowing above danger mark in Patna, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Katihar and Siwan a Disaster Management department statement said.
The Ganga river was flowing above danger mark in five places - Digha ghat, Gandhi ghat, Hathidah in Patna and Bhagalpur districts and Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district.
Other rivers which were flowing above danger mark were Punpun at Sripalpur in Patna district, Ghaghra in Gangpur-Siswan in Siwan district, Kosi in Baltara and Kursela in Katihar district and Burhi Gandak in Khagaria district, it said.

The flood waters have entered the riverine areas of Patna and Vaishali affecting people living in villages of these areas.
The areas of Patna district which are affected by the flood water included - Maner, Danapur, and Bakhtiarpur and Raghopur of Vaishali district.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams with relief material and medical teams have been dispatched to the flood-affected areas.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who made an aerial survey of
these districts on Monday, had asked Vyasji and others to carry out aerial survey to assess the flood situation and take action.
Kumar had asked the officials to intensify the relief operations in the affected areas.

After the aerial survey today, the officials directed to provide dry food items to the people living in flood-affected areas and they would be brought to relief camps, if they desired, where they could be served cooked food along with other facilities.
At present, relief camps were being run at Maner and Bakhtiarpur, the statement said.
Officials had also been asked to distribute 'Halogen' tablets for purification of drinking water.
District Magistrates had been asked to issue directive not to ply boats for ferrying people after 5:30 pm. Besides, police were to be deployed in important ghats and make people especially children and youths aware of consequences of misadventure of jumping from high structures near the river banks to swim in the Ganga, it said.

The DMs had also been asked to ply boats in the flood-affected areas.