Patna, September 11: More than 300,000 people have been affected by flash floods caused by torrential rains in drought-affected districts of Bihar, an official said Friday.
Thousands of people in over 100 villages in Gaya, Nalanda, Jehanabad and Nawada districts were rendered homeless and are struggling to survive on the roads and other high places. The areas affected by the drought a little over a month, have been witnessing heavy rains last week one.
Bihar Minister for Disaster Management Devesh Chandra Thakur admitted that the sudden flood of thousands of people affected by drought in areas affected by old.
“The flood situation is grim in the districts affected by drought due to rising river water after heavy rains,” Thakur told a news service.
After floodwaters forced the villagers to leave their homes under Dhanrua block of Patna district, hundreds of people have made the road Masaurih Patna in a temporary shelter for the past two days.
“They held protest to call for help and called for rescue operations,” a local activist Choudhary, Dinesh said.
“The situation is really bad flooding in several rural villages in Patna, Jehanabad, Nalanda and Gaya,” said an official of the flood control cell.
Magadh Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar Sinha said floods have inundated villages in Gaya, Jehanabad, Nalanda and Aurangabad districts. Those suffering from drought are struggling to escape the floods.
Gaya, Nalanda, Nawada and Jehanabad are four of the 26 districts were declared drought affected by the state government in June and July due to poor rains had also beaten the transplanting of rice seedlings.
Now, dozens of villages in Jehanabad are flooded with floodwaters and road have been sharply due to heavy rains in the last three days.
Falgu River, which is usually almost dry, flowing above the danger mark due to rain in Gaya and Jehanabad. Similarly, the river Morher of Gaya and Nalanda in Jirain river also flowing above the danger mark. Bihar has a 21 percent deficit in rainfall so far this monsoon. However, until the first week of August, the rainfall deficit was recorded at 42 percent.
–Agencies