Patna, July 24: Heavy rainfall continued to wreak havoc in Bihar forcing the Indian Air Force (IAF) Central Air Command to deploy helicopters to help affected people across the state. According to a tweet by ANI, two helicopters have been deployed at Darbhanga to provide relief to flood affected victims in the districts of Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and Madhubani. On Tuesday, the death toll in Bihar jumped to 106 with two more people losing their lives in the calamity. Both the casualties have taken place in Madhubani district where the total number of deaths rose to 25. Bihar Floods: Water Levels Recede But Situation Remains Grim, Death Toll Mounts to 67.
Sitamarhi District in Bihar Worst Hit with 27 Deaths
Sitamarhi district tops the list among the 12 flood-affected districts with 27 deaths. Among the other districts, Araria has reported 12 deaths followed by Sheohar and Darbhanga (10 each), Purnea (nine), Kishanganj (five), Supaul (three), East Champaran and Muzaffarpur (two each) and Saharsa (one). According to officials, the recent floods have affected a population of 80.55 lakh in 12 districts of the state. Meanwhile, Katihar remains the only district affected by the calamity, which has reported no casualty so far.
According to details by Disaster Management Department officials, the water levels have started receding in several districts and consequently the number of relief camps and those taking shelter has also gone down considerably.
Here's the tweet:
Bihar: Indian Air Force (IAF) Central Air Command has deployed two helicopters at Darbhanga to provide relief to flood affected victims in the districts of Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and Madhubani. pic.twitter.com/oIVyeskNjl
— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2019
Floods in Nepal Led Rivers to Overflow
Flash floods were caused by unusually heavy rainfall in neighbouring Nepal earlier this month that led about half a dozen rivers flowing through the state to swell. According to reports, with a let up in rainfall in Nepal’s Terai region for the past few days, water levels have begun to recede.
Relief Camps Set in Bihar to Help People
In the wake of the current situation in the state, a number of relief camps across the state was 54, as against more than 130 a week ago. The number of people staying at those places has gone down from over one lakh to 29,400, the officials said. However, the need for relief material, including food, remained, and therefore, 812 community kitchens were still functioning.
Victims Receive Aid From Government
According to reports, flood victims are being provided assistance by the government through the Public Financial Management System under which each family is receives an aid of Rs 6,000 directly in their bank accounts. Moreover, chlorine tablets and bleaching powder has been distributed across the state to prevent outbreak of water-borne disease in the flood-hit districts.
Apart from Bihar, Assam has been severely hit by floods. The death toll in Bihar and Assam floods mounted to 174, with a total of 1.09 crore people being affected by the calamity in the two states. In Assam, 68 people lost their lives so far. A total of 28.01 lakh people were affected in 19 of the 33 districts of the northeastern state, officials said in Guwahati.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 24, 2019 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).