LIVE: Death toll in Bihar floods rises to 11, nearly 40 lakh affected

22:44 July 30

Ground report from Bihar's Gopalganj

The flood havoc in Bihar is continuously worsening as people in 12 districts are bearing the brunt of floods due to overflow in almost all major rivers and tributaries in the state. Over 38 lakh people of the state are affected by the floods, while 11 people have died so far in various incidents.

Meanwhile, the government is claiming relief and rescue work is on.

The report of the Department of Water Resources states that Kosi has a trend of increasing the water level. The water level of Kosi near Veerpur Barrage was 1.83 lakh cusecs at 6 am on Thursday, which has increased to 1.86 lakh cusecs. The water level of the Gandak river remains stable. The drainage of Gandak has reached 1.91 lakh cusecs at 8 am at Balmikinagar Barrage.

Almost all the rivers of the state are flowing above the danger mark. Ganga, Bagmati, Budhi Gandak, Kamala Balan, Mahananda are flowing above the danger mark in many areas.

22:35 July 30

Ground report from Bihar's Darbhanga

Ground report from Bihar's Darbhanga

12:30 July 30

Bhagalpur village inundated for 15 days, no boats from the govt yet

Madrauni village in Bihar's Bhagalpur district has been completely inundated in water for the past 15 days, but the residents have received no assistance from the government so far. Since there is no fresh water available now, villagers have been forced to drink contaminated water for the past many days. Speaking to ETV Bharat, Ajit Kumar Singh, the village head said that since roads have been cut off, boats are the only mode of transport available for the villagers. However, he said that the local administration has not provided any boats till date, and has also not released the pending two years' payment for the boats. As a result, no new boatman is willing to come to the area, he said. Further, the village said that the local administration has not even provided plastic sheets.

He said that around 1,000 houses in the village have been affected, and residents are living in dangerous conditions as the threat of snakes and disease looms large.

12:04 July 30

92 villages inundated in Khagaria district

The flood situation continues to remain severe in Bihar's Khagaria district, where 33 panchayats in seven blocks have been affected. As many as 92 villages in these areas have been reeling under floods and have been disconnected from the rest of the world. With water entering their homes, many people have no other option but to move out to safer places. Speaking to ETV Bharat, the affected villagers said they are struggling as there is no food supply, and the risk of disease looms large. They even complained that they have not yet received much help from the government, even as many huts get washed away in the floods.

11:51 July 30

Transmitting centre of AIR Darbhanga reeling under water

Amidst the worsening flood situation in Bihar, even the transmitting centre of All India Radio (AIR) Darbhanga has been inundated under water, and operations have been shifted to another location for now. According to Assistant Engineer Ram Naresh Jha, the transmitting building is now filled with one feet of water, due to which all cables are under water. In order to safeguard the equipment and also ensure the safety of employees, transmission from the centre was halted, and operations have now been shifted to a studio in Rajkumarganj.

08:02 July 30

Shortage of boats in Darbhanga, people not getting relief materials

As many as eight of the 18 blocks in Bihar's Darbhanga district are currently reeling under floods. The situation in Keoti block is particularly grim, as many people have been left stranded in inundated villages due to a shortage in boats. Further, this has also hampered relief operations. The villagers who managed to escape, are now taking shelter in self-made make-shift tents along National Highway 527 B. Families are sharing their tents with their livestock. The villagers complained that they have not received any government help so far.  

Shankar Yadav, whose house has been completely inundated, said that his family has been taking shelter in the tent for many days now, but is yet to receive any relief material from the government.  

Mahesh Paswan, another flood-affected villager, said that rainwater has been leaking through the tent, but his family is forced to live in the wet conditions as they cannot return to their house, which is flooded in chest-deep water. He complained that though politicians make tall promises before the elections, the villagers are forced to take shelter on the very same road every single year.

07:40 July 30

Flood-affected villagers residing in make-shift tents in East Champaran

The flood situation continues to remain grim in Bihar's East Champaran district, as many people have been forced to reside in makeshift tents on the roadside. According to reports, the embankment of the Sikrahana river near Dhumni Toli had collapsed on July 22, following which the Sukul Pakad Panchayat was completely inundated. With nowhere to go, villagers pitched up make-shift tents along the National Highway 527 D, where they are currently staying. The affected villagers have alleged that they have not received any government help till now, and are suffering without food.

Shiv Kumari Devi, whose house was flooded, said that all her belongings have been swept away, and there is no government help in sight.

07:18 July 30

Father, two sons drown in Darbhanga

In a tragic incident, three people of the same family died after drowning in the flood waters in Bihar's Darbhanga district. According to reports, Anil Kumar Mahto, a teacher, had gone for a bath with his two sons Ansh Kumar (16) and Prince Kumar (10). However, the three were swept away by the rapid flow of water. While the NDRF team had managed to fish out Anil's body, efforts are still on to trace the bodies of his two sons.

06:24 July 30

Death toll in Bihar floods rises to 11, nearly 40 lakh affected

Patna (Bihar):The flood situation in Bihar worsened on Wednesday with the death toll rising to 11 and nearly 40 lakh people being affected by the deluge, the state disaster management department said here.

According to the department's bulletin, three fresh casualties were reported from Darbhanga district, where the total number of fatalities caused by floods has now reached seven.

The remaining four deaths have been reported from West Champaran.

The state government charged Nepal with "non-cooperation" in carrying out flood protection work, but claimed that the needful was being done by the water resources department.

Water Resources Department Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha tweeted, "Undertaking flood protection work this year was a major challenge because of COVID-19 and non-cooperation from Nepal. Still, we have managed to complete the work at several places."

The minister, a close aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, also shared video footage of the work on maintenance of embankments being carried out by the department's personnel at the Nepal border.

The neighbouring country has recently sought to stymie, on a number of occasions, repair and maintenance of barrages and embankments by officials of Bihar, which requires access to the other side of the border.

The number of people affected by the floods, caused by heavy rainfalls in catchment areas along the Indo-Nepal border, has now reached 38,47,531, a jump of nearly a million since the previous day.

Residents of nearly a thousand villages across 12 affected districts have been hit by the deluge.

Other districts affected by the floods are East Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Khagaria and Samastipur.

Heavy rainfalls also lashed most parts of the state, triggering fears of worsening of the situation.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the state received an average total rainfall of 22 mm, which was 89 per cent in excess of normal.

Heaviest downpours were witnessed in flood-hit districts like East Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi where the volume of rainfall was stated to be more than 300 per cent above normal.

Relief and rescue efforts, meanwhile, were in full swing with teams of the NDRF and the SDRF, equipped with 1,500 boats, being pressed into service.

Assistance is also being provided by IAF helicopters for air-dropping of relief material.

Vijay Sinha, commandant of the 9th battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said, "Our 22 teams have rescued more than 7,700 people and hundreds of cattle. Rescue operations are being conducted amid strict adherence to norms in place for the prevention of spread of COVID-19."

He also said in addition to routine operations, NDRF personnel were also offering their services for bringing life back to normalcy. In Darbhanga''s Bahadurpur block, NDRF men were engaged in helping restoration of power supply.

In Saran, they resuscitated a 10-year-old boy, saved from drowning by local villagers.

The disaster management department put the total number of people evacuated from marooned localities at 3.09 lakh. Out of them, more than 25,000 people were taking shelter at 19 relief camps.

Besides, 989 community kitchen were catering to 5.71 lakh people.  

(PTI Report)