Incessant rain in Nepal have caused flood in Kishanganj along with other north- eastern districts of Bihar, namely Purnia, Araria, Katihar, Madhepura, Supaul, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur. Till now the rain followed by flood has claimed around one done lives and left thousands of people homeless. As many as 2.92 lakh people living in 33 blocks have been hit hard by the flood. Crops in 50,000 hectares of land, 73 non-reinforced concrete cement houses and 531 hamlets have been damaged. The flood has hit 273 panchayats, including 132 fully and 141 partially.
Disaster management department (DMD) principal secretary Vyasji conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts on Monday and later briefed CM Nitish Kumar about the situation.DMD joint secretary Anirudh Kumar said, "We are sending reinforcements to conduct emergency rescue and relief operations." According to him, flood waters from river Kankai have spread over all the eight blocks of Kishanganj district while flood waters of Bakra and Parman rivers have hit Araria district from Sikti in north bordering Nepal to Jalalgarh along the downstream of the two rivers, making the situation equally grim in the adjoining parts of Purnia district.
The flood has claimed four human lives in Kishanganj, three in Supaul, as well as one each in Katihar and Araria districts. "The details regarding damage to cattle property, crops and houses are being collected," the DMD joint secretary said. At least 28,823 people from four districts have been displaced, who have sought shelter in relief camps. As many as 27 relief camps have been opened in Purnia district, 24 each in Kishanganj and Araria districts and two in Supaul.
National disaster response force and state disaster response force teams, along with inflatable and traditional boats, have been rushed to Kishanganj and Purnia districts from Darbhanga, Khagaria and Lakhisarai districts to add to the existing teams engaged in rescue and relief operations, the DMD joint secretary said, adding otherwise 290 government boats and 167 private boats were put in service in the eight districts.
So far 158 quintals of chura, 17 quintals of jiggery, 300 packets of matchboxes, 2,850 candles, 200 litres of kerosene, 2,121 pieces of polythene sheets and 520 food packets have been distributed among the marooned people. The flood situation is likely to worsen as water resources department said there was forecast of heavy rain in Nepal over the next two days.
