Bihar rains fury LIVE: Orange alert for 5 districts, death toll reaches 72

17:31 October 03

Chaos arises while getting flood relief items in Patna

Patna (Bihar): Incessant rainfall in Bihar has badly hit normal life, with almost all areas of capital city Patna under knee-deep waters and people struggling to meet their daily needs. 

The relentless rains and deluge that took place between September 27 and 30 have left parts of the state in a dire condition with the death toll touching 73.

According to the data provided by the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) on Thursday claims to rescue more than11,000 people from different parts of the state.

Besides, the rescue operation conducted by the disaster teams, people have to face a severe shortage of food and clean water. 

Though the government claims to have sanctioned enough funds for the relief and restoration work, Rajendra Nagar showcases a different picture. 

People have to stand in a long queue to get a meal and a water bottle.

A woman waiting for her turn to get a meal said, "The government has done a great job in rescuing us but what we will do after that?"

What will we eat and drink, who will take the responsibility to provide basic items to us? - these are some of the questions that everyone standing in the queue desires to ask the government.

Though people claimed the government failed in providing necessary items, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Barh, Navinagar has done a commendable job in distributing the relief items to the flood-affected people. 

"I would like to thank the team of the NTPC who have given us the basic commodities which are necessary for our survival, said Navin Singh-a resident of Patna.

17:21 October 03

Bihar rain death toll soars to 73, many areas inundated even after a week

Bihar Flood

Patna:The death toll soared to 73 on Thursday in incidents related to torrential rainfall which has created a flood-like situation in 15 districts of Bihar, including the state capital, authorities said.

The state disaster management said that the death toll takes into account loss of lives caused by drowning, wall collapse, trees crushing people to death and electrocution of citizens trapped in water-logged areas.

The department was, however, unable to provide a district-wise break-up.

It is being presumed that Bhagalpur where the district administration has confirmed as many as 12 casualties, might have been the worst affected.

Meanhile, forces involved in relief and rescue operations fished out rotting corpses from water-logged areas in several places.

In Patna, normal life has come to a grinding halt in many parts of the city which have been water-logged for close to a week notwithstanding efforts being made by the district administration, along with the NDRF and the SDRF, to replenish food, medicines and drinking water of the stranded citizens.

Banks, shops, private hospitals and coaching institutes which abound in Kankar Bagh, Rajendra Nagar and Pataliputra Colonly the worst-affected ones have been closed for a week.

The last time they could conduct normal business was on Friday when the downpour began late in the evening and continued for the next couple of days.

Many localities have been rid of inundation by now as sump houses have been working overtime and heavy duty pumps have been brought in from Chhattisgarh to flush out the water with greater speed.

However, residents of these localities are faced with a fresh set of woes as tap water supplied by the municipal authorities and even submersible boring has got contaminated and is emitting foul smell, rendering it unfit for consumption.

Complaints of the sort are flooding the helplines set up by the district administration as also its WhatsApp group where assurances have come from District Magistrate Kumar Ravi that remedial measures will be taken.

BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav, who on Wednesday night fell into a shallow river while trying to reach a water-logged area in rural Patna, on Thursday accused the city administration of neglecting areas falling under his Pataliputra constituency.

"It seems the Patna administration cannot look beyond Kankarbagh and Rajendra Nagar. Water-logging has been there in Danapur but nobody seems to notice," rued Yadav, who had been the deputy Mayor in 1980s.

Patna is divided into two Lok Sabha constituencies, the other being Patna Sahib, which is represented by Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Many common citizens have become Samaritans, inspired by the tragedy. One such instance being a 13-year-old girl Siddhi Shreya who came all the way from Samastipur to donate Rs 11,000 she had collected over the years and took out breaking open her piggy bank.

The money was received by former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who has earned plaudits for his efforts in the past few days, which include personally reaching out to stranded people with cash, food and drinking water aboard NDRF boats besides disbursement of sanitary pads by female volunteers of his Jan Adhikar Party.

"My child, you have proven that the rulers sitting in Delhi and Patna are baune (dwarfs) in front of you. You have demonstrated that a persons stature depends on his or her character.

"I feel assured that things will change for the better when the future generation grows up," Yadav remarked movingly, sharing the episode on his official Twitter handle.

15:50 October 03

Fogging work begins in water logged areas

Fogging work begins in water logged areas

Patna:To keep the vector-borne diseases at bay, the Bihar government on Thursday has begun the fogging work in the water-logged areas of the state.

"We are fogging Rajendra Nagar area and also spraying bleaching powder. We have also tried to operate JCB machine in the Dinkar Golambar, Vaishali Chowk and here. We are also distributing bleach powder to each household so that the people can spray it inside their houses. We have also cleared most of the animal carcases from this area," District Magistrate, Patna Kumar Ravi said while speaking to media. 

He further said that the machines which have been brought from outside are being installed in the areas to speed up the relief work in the flooded areas.

After incessant rainfall that resulted in floods in the state, the death count has risen to 73, with nine reported injured, according to the state officials.

The NDRF has rescued over ten thousand people from the state capital, Patna. The rescue teams have been rowing people across the flooded streets in inflated boats from the past few days.

Even as Bihar continues to be under the deluge, an Orange Alert has been issued for Patna, Vaishali, Begusarai, and Khagaria districts for October 3 and 4, as these areas are expected to receive heavy rainfall.

14:50 October 03

Two cancer patients rescued from Patna

Patna: Two cancer patients were rescued on Thursday from the Rajendra Nagar area of the capital city. The rescue operation was conducted by the SSB team after getting information from a local resident. 

Ravi Singh, suffering from cancer praised the rescue conducted by the SSB team and said that he has been admitted to a private hospital in Rajendra Nagar. "I am not supposed to be noticed by anyone, by the god grace someone informed the SSB and I am rescued, added Ravi. 

Later, both the patients were referred to the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) for treatmen.

14:12 October 03

IMD predicts normalcy, urges people not to panic

Patna (Bihar): Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Patna has predicted light rainfall in some parts of Samastipur and urges the people to have patience during rain. 

Scientist at Patna Meteorological Department Anand Shankar said that there are fewer chances of rain in some parts of Bihar. "I request all the people suffering from the current situation 'not to panic' and 'support each other' to tackle the situation, added Shankar.

The scientist further maintained no to give attention to the fake news and suggested to follow the instructions issued by the administration.

12:59 October 03

IMD issues orange alert for 5 districts- Patna, Biharshariff, Khagaria, Vaishali and Begusarai

Patna:Indian Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert in Patna, Vaishali, Begusarai and Khagaria districts of Bihar for October 3 and 4.

The likely rain is going to add to the woes of the state which is battling with floods caused by a torrential spell that took place between September 27 and 30. So far, the toll of the rain-related incidents after the downpour has touched 72.

According to a release issued by the state disaster management department, 72 casualties have been reported so far from the districts affected by the heavy rainfall, though a district-wise break-up was not yet available.

The release put the total number of people affected by the devastating spell at 17.29 lakh.

The districts hit by the disaster were Patna, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Samastipur, Begusarai, Lakhisarai and Vaishali situated on either side of the Ganga besides Arwal, Nawada and Nalanda in the Magadh region and Darbhanga and Katihar in Mithila.

"The state capital, which has been among the worst-affected, was pounded by 342.5 mm of rainfall during the period as against the state average of 255 mm," the release said.

With restoration work being undertaken on a war-footing, all the sump houses were working at 'full capacity' while three heavy-duty pumps have been brought in from Bilaspur to speedily flush out water from inundated areas of the city.

According to the disaster management department, six teams of the NDRF and two of the SDRF have so far rescued more than 10,000 people stranded in localities where the water level was several feet deep. These included 31 pregnant women and 361 patients who were rushed to hospitals.

Those rescued by the forces included prominent personalities like Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Padma Bhushan awardee folk singer Sharda Sinha, both residents of Rajendra Nagar area.