10 dead in Bihar floods, over 10.5 lakh affected; 14 NDRF teams deployed

Patna: As monsoon fury continues over Bihar, as many as 10 people have lost their lives in the deluge, while over 10.5 lakh people have been affected in ten districts across the state, nearly 16,000 others have been shifted to shelter homes. At least 14 teams of NDRF have been deployed in flood-affected districts to carry out the evacuation work.

"10,61,152 people have been affected due to floods in Bihar and 15,956 people are staying in shelter homes," the government stated in the daily flood bulletin.

According to a report, floodwater entered Darbhanga-Samastipur main road connecting both districts near Dilahi village creating traffic issues on the stretch. "Water has entered into our houses that`s why we are out on the roads. The government has not come helped us yet," Mahesh, a local resident told ANI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his monthly radio address to the nation asserted that the whole nation stands by those affected by the disaster. He assured that all governments, NDRF teams, disaster response teams, self-help groups are working in tandem to provide relief and rescue in all possible ways. "During this rainy season, there is a large part of the country that is grappling with floods. Many areas of states like Bihar and Assam are having to deal with a series of difficulties due to floods," he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a state cabinet meeting through video conference to review the flood situation. He directed officials to distribute free masks to those rescued and to provide them with all the facilities as per the COVID-19 guidelines. 

The Chief Minister asked officials to make arrangements for those affected families to stay in shelter homes. Kumar also directed them to provide Rs 6,000 each as gratuitous relief to the affected person.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl on board an NDRF rescue boat plying on the swollen Burhi Gandak river in flood-affected Bihar on Sunday. The woman was being rescued from her marooned house in Gobari village of East Champaran district when she developed severe labour pain and later delivered the baby around 1:40 pm, an NDRF spokesperson said in Delhi.