Patna, August 22:The flood situation in Bihar remained critical on Saturday as nearly 70,000 more people were affected by the calamity, raising the number of marooned people to 83,62,451 in 16 districts of the state, a Disaster Management Department bulletin said.

Flood water entered in 11 fresh panchayat areas since Friday and the number of affected panchayats is now 1,333 in 130 blocks. Flood-related deaths remained unchanged at 27, the bulletin said.

The highest 11 casualties were registered in Darbhanga district, followed by six in Muzaffarpur, four in West Champaran and two each in Saran, Siwan and Khagaria. Darbhanga is the worst-hit district with 20.82 lakh people affected by the deluge while Muzaffarpur has 19.69 lakh victims, the bulletin said.

Of the total six relief centres, in which 5,186 people are now staying, five are in Samastipur and one in Khagaria, it said. Altogether 2.09 lakh flood-hit people were fed at 269 community kitchen centres on Saturday.

The bulletin said that about 5.50 lakh people have been evacuated so far by 26 teams of National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force. The state government has transferred Rs 577.57 crore into the bank accounts of 9,62,617 flood-affected families in the state till date. Each family has been given Rs 6,000 as gratuitous relief, it said.

Meanwhile, the river Ganga is flowing above the danger level at three places in the state -- Gandhi ghat and Hathidah in Patna and Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, the Water Resources Department said.

The water level of the Ganga is witnessing a rising trend in Buxar, Digha, Gandhi ghat and Kahalgaon. It has remained steady at Munger and is going down at Hathidah, the department said.

The 16-flood affected districts are Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, West Champaran, East Champaran, Khagaria, Saran, Samastipur, Siwan, Madhubani, Madhepura and Saharsa.

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