PATNA: Hundreds of villages remain marooned in flood-hit Bihar districts two days after river embankments were breached at many places. Major rivers are flowing above the danger mark as people displaced by the floods have been forced to live under the open sky on roads and elevated parts of the villages.
They have been struggling for food, drinking water, milk for children and fodder for their animals. “We have nothing to eat or feed our animals. We are forced to drink flood water,” said Ramadhar Das, a resident of Dhankaul in Sheohar district. Sources said at least 12 lakh people have been affected by the floods and inundation.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who returned from Delhi a day ago, undertook an aerial survey of the areas inundated as a result of release of millions of cusecs of water, in a barrage along the border, by Nepal which was battered by record rainfall over the weekend.
The state disaster management department said packets of food and other relief materials were air-dropped by Indian Air Force helicopters which benefitted more than two lakh people in Sitamarhi and Darbhanga districts.
Deputy CM and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, who met Union Jalshakti Minister C R Patil in Delhi a day ago, said he has urged the latter to consider construction of an additional barrage to check recurring floods that wreak devastation in areas bordering Nepal every year.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan, who hails from the state, visited the affected areas and said that he would share details of the “frightening” conditions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and represents the Hajipur constituency, spent hours in badly affected districts such as Purnea and Saharsa.
For safe evacuation of people, altogether 16 teams of NDRF and 14 of the state disaster response force (SDRF) have been pressed into service.