Flood situation improving in Bihar

The flood situation in Bihar showed signs of improvement today with water receding from several areas.
For the first time in over a fortnight, the number of deluge-related fatalities remained unchanged at 514.
With the floodwaters receding, people have started returning home. 1.38 lakh are still putting up in 116 relief camps in the affected areas, a state Disaster Management Department report said.
It said 1.71 crore people are battling the flooding in 19 districts.
Meanwhile, cabinet secretariat department principal secretary Brijesh Mehrotra said it had sanctioned Rs 1,935 crore to deal with the deluge.
Of this, Rs 9,00 crore would be spent on distribution of gratuitous relief to the flood-affected people, while Rs 947 crore would be spent on supplying them food grains.

Mehrotra said Rs 6,000 will be given as gratuitous relief to every flood-affected person. The money would be deposited in the beneficiaries' bank accounts.

Besides, Rs 8 crore would be spent on giving ex-gratia to the families which lost their members in the floods, Rs 20 crore on repairing damaged houses and Rs 20 crore on giving agriculture input grant for crop damage, he said.
Meanwhile, funds kept pouring in for flood relief from different quarters.
Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Minister Vishwas Sarang handed over a cheque of Rs 5 crore on behalf of the Shivraj Singh Chauhan government to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Former Bihar chief minister and president of Hindustani Awam Morcha Jitan Ram Manjhi gave a cheque of Rs 1.10 lakh to Kumar and another cheque of Rs 2 lakh on behalf of his party, which is a BJP ally.
Train services remained affected due to the deluge.
An East Central Railway (ECR) statement gave a list of 33 trains that would not run tomorrow and on Thursday.