Most districts situated in North Bihar along the Indo-Nepal border are bracing themselves for the yearly monsoon floods amid the forecast of heavy rains in the catchment areas of rivers flowing into the State from Nepal. According to a recent survey, around 165 people were found dead and nearly 5.4 million people were affected by the floods in and around 20 districts. There was an extensive fear of the state capital, Patna, going underwater. The flood conditions in Bihar, have become worse in the last 24 hours. All the major rivers are flowing above the danger level and the government has announced a high alert in the state.
Over two dozen villagers were forced to flee their homes and seek shelter elsewhere. In Sitamarhi and Araria, the roads are completely damaged. People are completely stranded. The flood situation continues to remain grim and around 2.5 million people have been affected. After seeing the major damages and incessant rainfall, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas. Water Resources Minister, Mr. Sanjay Jha, announced that the state government is monitoring the flood situations and is giving-instructions to save the people from the flooded areas. The state government has opened up all the 56 gates of the Kosi barrage releasing water to ease the pressure on the barrage, heading towards the floods.
Rescue operations have taken place at all the flood-affected areas by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). Most political parties are questioning Nitish Kumar’s government for not being prepared for the floods.
Over the years, Bihar has become one of India’s most flood-prone state. If we look into certain historical facts, 16.5% of the total flood affected area is located in Bihar, while 22.1% of the flood-affected population of India lives in Bihar. The number of people dying has increased, according to the stats, Araria, a district of Bihar has accounted for 30 deaths, Sitamarhi 13, Madhubani 8 and Katihar 7. 11in Kisanganj, West Champaran 23, East Champaran and Supual and 9 each in Purnea and Madhepura. Furthermore, four deaths were reported in Gopalganj, Darbhanga and Saharsa, 3 in Khagaria and Sheohar, 2 in Saran and 1 in Muzaffarpur, information shared by Special Secretary in the Disaster Management Department Anirudh Kumar. Various districts in the eastern region of Bihar are flooded including Basti, Balrampur, Siddhartnagar, Ayodhya, Barabanki, Gonda, Lakhimpur, Mahrajganj.
The flood conditions in Bihar have improved. Everything has been affected including the transportation system. Train and Bus services have begun taking different routes. But the government is making sure that the situation comes under control sooner.
