Bihar flood situation worsens

Normal lives remained disrupted in several parts of Patna after floodwater gushed into fresh areas. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who surveyed the flood affected areas on Sunday, directed officials to intensify rescue and relief operations in the affected zones.

With water flowing above danger level in Ganga and Sone rivers, parts of Patna, Bhojpur, Begusarai, and Vaishali have been marked as worst-hit by the disaster management department and the administration has been asked to keep rescue team on the standby in case the situation worsens in these areas.

Terming the situation as alarming, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar made an appeal to the people to “move to safer places.” He said, “Officials have been asked to take adequate measures and to rescue people from the flood-affected areas.”

Chief minister Nitish Kumar demanded immediate removal of Farrakka dam from river Ganga and asked the Centre to formulate a policy on silt management to save Bihar from flood.

“This is the appropriate time for the Centre to send a team of experts to study the condition of rivers in Bihar. The main cause behind heavy flooding in Bihar is silt deposit in rivers and a permanent solution is needed,” Mr Kumar said on Sunday.

According to an estimate, more than 10 lakh people have been affected and over 2 lakh have lost their homes in flood, which according to experts have broken the records of 1994. Officials said, “Camps have been set up in affected areas and rescue operations are being carried out.”

However, according to sources, a large section of people in the affected zones have shifted to temporary camps on highways.

They said, “People were complaining of no government help and was forced to make arrangements on their own.”