Bihar: Four more die as floods affect over 32 lakh people in 16 districts

PATNA: Four more persons died while over 32 lakh people remained affected by floods in 96 blocks of 16 districts in the state on Tuesday. Several trains were either cancelled or diverted on Jamalpur-Sahibganj and Jamalpur-Bhagalpur routes under the Malda division of Eastern Railway (ER) due to heavy rain and waterlogging on the rail tracks.
According to Bihar Disaster Management Department, 16 persons have died in the floods this year so far in the affected districts of Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Khagaria, Saharsa, Patna, Vaishali, Bhojpur, Lakhisarai, Bhagalpur, Saran, Buxar, Begusarai, Katihar, Munger, Samastipur and Purnia. Fourteen teams of NDRF and 12 of SDRF have been deployed for relief and rescue operations.
Though the floodwaters from the Ganga started receding from Patna and its adjoining areas on Tuesday and the pace of the increase in the water level also slowed down from Munger onwards up to Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, a Central Water Commission (CWC) bulletin said the Ganga water level will increase at Munger by 2cm on Wednesday, followed by 6cm each at Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon. However, it said the water level will fall 63cm at Buxar and by 44cm at Digha, 43cm at Gandhi Ghat in Patna as well as by 21cm at Hathidah.
The floodwaters have already damaged the railway track near Bariarpur on the Bhagalpur-Jamalpur section of the East Central Railway, while vehicular traffic along the National Highway (NH)-80 has also been disrupted. The Ismailpur-Bind Tola bund was breached and the floodwaters entered Nugachhia town, besides causing damage in Gopalpur, Naugachhia, Rangda and Bihpur blocks in Bhagalpur district.
The CWC bulletin said the Sone near Maner on the western outskirts of Patna was flowing 96cm above the danger level, but the water level will fall by 55cm on Wednesday. Similarly, river Punpun was flowing 61cm above the danger level at Sripalpur on the eastern outskirts of Patna, but will fall by 71cm on Wednesday.
The trend has brought huge relief to people at Patna and its adjoining areas between Buxar and Hathidah, but the burden on the people is unlikely to ease dramatically in at least five districts of Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar along both the banks of the eastern stretch of the river.
Meanwhile, the water discharge through Kosi and Gandak have come down to 1.71 lakh cusecs and 1.41 lakh cusecs, respectively. However, both Bagmati and Kamla rivers were flowing above the danger level at several points, causing persistent unease in Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur and Madhubani districts.