Floods claim 47 more lives in Bihar, 10 in Assam, 17 in Bengal

Around 74 more deaths were on Thursday reported from the deluge-battered areas of Bihar, Assam and West Bengal, where swirling floodwaters have paralysed normal life and marooned over 1.20 crore people.

The figure of flood casualties mounted to 119 in Bihar, with 47 more people losing their lives. The deluge has affected nearly 98 lakh people in 16 districts, forced postponement of examination and cancellation of trains, officials of state disaster management department said.

An official of the department said flood situation remained grim and there is little chance of respite.

According to him, the highest number of 23 deaths reported from worst-hit Araria district, followed by 12 in Sitamarhi district and 11 each in Kishanganj, East Champaran, West Champaran, Supaul districts.

In Madhubani district seven deaths reported followed by Madhepura and Purnea districts reported five deaths each. Four each in Darbhanga and Saharsa districts and three each in Gopalganj and Khagaria districts were reported.

However, unconfirmed reports reaching Patna indicated that death toll due to floods has reached over 150.

Bihar disaster management department officials said that 98.225 lakh people in 1,532 panchayats under 139 blocks in 16 districts have been affected by the floods in the state.

Ac ording to them, about 4,08,903 people have been evacuated to safe places by the rescue teams in last four days and government has set up 1,238 relief camps in which 3,10,041 people are living in flood hit districts.

The state government has deployed Army, Air Force helicopters, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force teams along with its officials to speed up rescue and relief operations.

Bihar disaster management department principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit said the government has deployed seven Army teams, 27 NDRF and 16 SDRF teams with 276 boats in relief and rescue operations.

The state government has ordered schools, colleges and all educational institutions to remain shut. Leaves of doctors and heath department officials in flood hit districts have also been cancelled.

Principal Secretary, Road Construction, Amrit Lal Meena said 124 roads, including national highways, have been damaged due to floods.

An East Central Railways statement said 39 trains were cancelled as water overtopped tracks.

Floods claimed 17 more lives in six northern districts of West Bengal, even as the overall situation improved on Thursday, officials said.

Out of the 17 people, 15 drowned while two others died after they were bitten by snake, a senior disaster management department official said.

At least 49 people have died in flood-related incidents in the districts of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda since July 21, the official said.

As rains have abated, water has started receding and the situation has improved a lot, he said.

10 more people died due to floods in Assam. Around 31 lakh people across 24 districts are bearing the brunt of the flooding.

The toll in the third wave of floods in the state has risen to 49. 133 people have died so far this year in flood-related incidents.

According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), three persons died in Dhubri, two in Morigaon and one each in Dhemaji, Sonitpur, Barpeta, South Salmara and Nagaon districts.

Currently, 2,584 villages are under water. 1.67 lakh hectares of crop area has been damaged, the ASDMA said.

Authorities are running 602 relief camps and distribution centres in 21 districts, where 1,01,035 people are taking shelter.

The NDRF, SDRF and district administration personnel have evacuated nearly 3,500 people to safer places.

With inputs from M I Khan in Patna.