25 killed in Bihar floods, Opposition slams Nitish government

Patna: With the water level rising in Bihar, the flood situation turned worse on Tuesday. According to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, at least 25 people have died due to floods in around 16 districts of the state.

Nitish Kumar, who had earlier conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas, claimed that heavy rains in Nepal were responsible for the situation which led to floods in various parts of the state.

“The situation has occurred due to heavy rains in Nepal but we are prepared to face the situation. The state government has been closely monitoring the relief and rescue works and will take all necessary measures to compensate for the losses occurred due to flood”, Mr Kumar said.

Mr Kumar gave the statement while replying to questions raised by Opposition parties in the state Assembly on Tuesday. RJD has been blaming the state government for the flood crisis in Bihar. On Monday, former chief minister Rabri Devi and other Opposition leaders had criticised Nitish Kumar and raised questions on the state government’s preparedness to deal with the situation.

In his reply, Mr Nitish Kumar said that the disaster management department and district officials have been asked to monitor the situation and step up relief and rescue operations in the affected areas. Meanwhile, Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed said he has written a letter to the CM seeking assistance for stranded people.

“There are areas where people are not getting enough food material. I was told that in some parts people are also forced to eat rats in order to survive,” Mr Khan told this newspaper.