The Bihar state government on Thursday sounded a high alert in the state flood affected districts following heavy rains in the state and the catchment areas of Nepal. The rising water level in major rivers in north Bihar has hundreds of thousands of people in the state.
People living between embankments and rivers in over half a dozen districts have been alerted and asked to remain ready to be evacuated, if the water levels continue to rise.
The water resources department has sent alert messages to the district magistrates of north Bihar districts, particularly Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, West Champaran, East Champaran, to make all necessary preparations to face any eventuality.
Nearly 20 lakh people in 15 of 37 districts have been affected by floods in the state, with thousands forced to flee their homes struggling to survival under the open sky. "Most of them have taken shelter on high-rise embankments, national highways, railway line and in school and other buildings, state disaster management department officials said.
So far, 45 people have died drowning in flood waters at different places in the state, officials said.
The flood waters entered more than 1,000 villages under 500 panchayats and rising levels of most rivers threatened to inundate many others, an official of water resources department said.
Officials said that standing crops worth crores of rupees have been damaged and road communication at several places has snapped in the district. Angry over inadequate relief, hundreds of flood victims in Bhagalpur, Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Katihar staged protest in last two days.
The government has announced to provide 1 quintal food grain to flood victims and directed officials of flood-hit districts to open relief camps. Five teams of National Disaster Response Force have been camping in flood affected districts to provide emergency services to people.
