Patna: The death toll in Bihar flood is increasing day by day as it rose to 153 today on Saturday, while those marooned in 17 districts of the state crossed the one crore mark, Army team has been called for relief and rescue operation in Bihar and severe flood -hit eastern Uttar Pradesh districts adjoining Nepal.
Araria district of Bihar accounted for 30 deaths, West Champaran 23, Sitamarhi 13, Madhubani 8 and Katihar 7. 11 each have died in Kisanganj, East Champaran and Supual and 9 each in Purnea and Madhepura.
Four deaths each were reported in Darbhanga, Gopalganj and Saharsa, 3 each in Khagaria and Sheohar, 2 in Saran and 1 in Muzaffarpur, Special Secretary in the Disaster Management Department Anirudh Kumar said.
Around 1.08 crore people have been hit by floods in 17 districts and 1,688 panchayats of the eastern state, he said. The MeT office said Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea are likely to witness rain or thundershower today.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reviewed the flood situation and gave necessary instruction to officials. He gave orders for intensive airdropping of food packets in Kursakanta, Palasi, Sikti and Jokihaat in Araria and the Sugauli area in East Champaran, an official statement said.
A total of 28 National Disaster Response Force teams comprising 1,152 personnel are rendering services in the marooned areas with the help of 118 boats.
Seven Army teams with 2,228 personnel are assisting relief and rescue operation with the help of 280 boats, a state Disaster Management Department release said.
The Special Secretary in the Disaster Management Department said 1,765 community kitchens are catering to 3.44 lakh people in several flood-hit areas of the state.
Continuous rains and discharge of water in rivers worsened the deluge situation in eastern Uttar Pradesh, where Army had to be called in.
The movement of traffic on the Gorakhpur-Sonauli road towards Nepal came to a standstill with the waters of Rohin river inundating Maniram Township and the national highway, sources in the administration said.
As many as 105 villages of the district have been hit by the floods, of which 35 are totally submerged and the villagers have been shifted to safer places, they said. According to a report from Siddhartnagar, army helicopters assisted in extending relief material to the affected.
Several districts in the eastern region of the state including Balrampur, Basti, Siddhartnagar, Barabanki, Ayodhya, Lakhimpur, Mahrajganj, Gonda are facing floods.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Odisha was likely to experience heavy rainfall in next 24 hours due to a low pressure area created over northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal region of the state.
