Bihar: Floods hit 83 lakh people in 16 districts

PATNA: Flood situation continues to be grim in Bihar as over 83 lakh people in the 1,333 panchayats of 16 districts remained affected on Saturday.
According to the state disaster management department (DMD), altogether 83,62,451 people were hit by floods and 9,62,617 affected families had been provided Rs 6,000 each as gratuitous relief. The DMD claimed that 5,50,79 people had been evacuated to safer places and 5,186 others were taking shelter at the relief camps being run by the state government.
Darbhanga remained the worst hit as its 20,82,005 population was affected by floods, followed by 19,69,740 in Muzaffarpur and 10,20,009 in East Champaran districts.
Major rivers like Bagmati, Burhi Gandak, Kosi, Kamla, Khiroi and Ghaghra were flowing above the danger mark at many places, but the water level either had a falling trend or remained static on Saturday. The Ganga was above the danger mark with increasing trend at Gandhi Ghat and Hathidah in Patna district, but was decreasing at Kahalgaon flood gauge in Bhagalpur district.
According to Patna Meteorological Centre, rainfall with thunderstorms is very likely in several districts on Sunday. Heavy rainfall occurred at one or two places over northeast parts of Bihar and light to moderate rainfall at most places of north-central, northeast, south-central, south-east parts of Bihar during the past 24 hours. Light rainfall was recorded in the Nepal basin areas of Kamla, Bagmati-Adhwara group and Gandak rivers.