Over 100 killed in four days as floods wreck havoc in Bihar, UP
Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi was on Monday rescued from his residence as he was stranded due to flooding in the area after incessant rainsWhile the exact figure of the death toll is yet to come in, a rough estimate pegged the toll at 100 across Bihar and UP
New Delhi: As Bihar continues to grapple with unprecedented floods and with the Ganga breaching the danger mark, relief and rescue operations have been stepped up across the state. While the exact figure of the death toll is yet to come in, a rough estimate pegged the toll at 100 across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Central and state disaster relief teams have rescued 26,000 people so far on Monday, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has stepped up rescue operations in Bihar where several rivers have been flowing above the danger mark.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, who was stranded at his residence in Patna, was also rescued by NDRF personnel.
Watch | Bihar floods: Sushil Modi & family rescued after being stranded for 3 days
“The situation is unprecedented (in Bihar). It's almost like a cloud burst. Impact is mainly due to water logging. Out of 19 NDRF teams deployed, five are in Patna. We've evacuated about 4,000 people since morning," S.N. Pradhan, director general of NDRF said in New Delhi.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad visited the state on Monday to meet the state’s legislators and officials. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also met officials of the flood-affected districts.
“I have had meetings with our MLAs and officials. I was told that all gates of Farakka Barrage have been opened and bigger pumps from Coal India will be made available. NDRF has informed that there are enough boats. One helicopter has reached and another will come from Gorakhpur to provide relief materials. We'll do whatever we can for people of Patna and Bihar. We empathise with them," Prasad said on Monday.
Kumar Balchand, deputy commandant, NDRF said: “People are facing difficulties due to water-logging here. We are distributing relief material to people. Five teams of NDRF have been deployed in Rajendra Nagar and Kankarbagh areas of Patna."
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall over East Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya and over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, the north Gujarat Region, Madhya Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala.
Watch | Bihar flood: IAF choppers drop relief material; pumps sought from Coal India
According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), many rivers in North Bihar have started rising and are very close to the danger mark or crossed the danger level. Sone, Gomti, Gandak, Kosi sub-basin and Ganga Basin have received more than 1000% above normal rains during the past 24 hours.
River Bagmati is flowing in severe flood situation and is expected to rise at Dheng Bridge, Runisaidpur in Sitamarhi District and Benibad in Muzzafarpur district. Kamla Balan rive at Jhanjarpur in Madhubani district is flowing above the danger level and is expected to rise further.
Ganga is flowing in severe flood situation at Buxar and has started rising again in view of extremely heavy rainfall in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Raebareli, Jaunpur, Allahabad and Varanasi districts.
“Due to continuous very heavy rain for two days amounting to about 25 cm in Patna, there is flood like situation as the river Ganga is in Severe Flood Situation, creating urban flood like situation in Patna City and its suburban areas. Since the situation is likely to continue for at least another 24 hours, maximum vigil along the rivers as well as urban drains have to be maintained for sudden flood like situation in association with intense rain spells during the warning period," as per CWC.
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