Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Patna/Guwahati
Death toll stood at 127 in Bihar and at 81 in Assam, authorities said on Saturday, as both states reel under a worsening situation.
As many as 127 people are reported to have died in Bihar as the flood situation across 13 districts in the eastern state remained critical, affecting over 82 lakh people, according to officials on Saturday.
The situation is particularly grave in 13 districts in the northern part of the state. It has affected around 82,83,000 people in Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Supaul, Kishanganj, Araria, Purnea, Katihar and West Champaran districts.
Water Resources Department spokesperson Arvind Kumar said though the water level in Koshi river declined a bit on Saturday, rivers like Gandak and Bagmati were flowing above the danger marks.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday reviewed the flood situation and relief works with officials through video-conferencing, Bihar Water Resource Minister Sanjay Jha told IANS.
Each flood-hit family was getting Rs 6,000 credited to their bank account, he added.
Relief camps have been set up in all the flood-hit districts with 888 community kitchens to provide food to people taking shelter in the camps. Twenty-seven companies of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to oversee relief and rescue operations.
Thousands have fled homes in the Supaul district, road travel has been disrupted in the Katihar district.
Bagmati and Kamala rivers are likely to swell further as more water has been released from Nepal. The Darbhanga district administration has asked people to remain alert and has ordered closure of government schools.
In Assam, one more person died in Barpeta district.
Water re-entered Sonitpur district bordering Arunachal Pradesh. The situation in the other 17 flood-affected districts remained unchanged, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.
A population of 21.68 lakh of 1,716 villages in 56 revenue circles of the state is affected by the deluge.
Altogether 615 relief camps and 49 relief distribution centres are being operated in various flood-hit districts of the state, ASDMA said.
The rivers flowing at the danger level are the Brahmaputra at Neamatighat (Jorhat) and Dhubri, the Desang at Nangamuraghat (Sivasagar), the Jia Bharali at N T Road Crossing (Sonitpur), the Beki at Road Bridge (Barpeta) and the Kushiara at Karimganj (Karimganj), it said.
Besides Sonitpur, the other 17 affected districts are Dhemaji, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Cachar.
