Intermittent rain in the past 36 hours has severely hit lives of residents in Darbhanga, 175km northeast of Patna.

The municipal administration's claims of preparedness to tackle the situation sound hollow as residents have been wading through ankle-deep waterlogged areas in town.

Residential colonies, apart, even commercial centres like Darbhanga Tower and Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital have gone under water. Other waterlogged areas include Balbhadrapur, areas around municipal office, Bengali Tola, Gandhi Nagar Katrahiya, Laxmi Sagar, Khan Chowk etc. Residents are forced to stay indoors. Children have not been able to go to school.

Darbhanga mayor Gauri Paswan told The Telegraph: "Darbhanga is like a bowl and it needs a lot of resources to drain out water. We are working with limited resources. We have received unexpected rains in the past 36 hours. There is a flood-like condition in various areas. Despite acute shortage of manpower and equipment, we are trying to clear the mess. If the rains stop for even a day, water would recede faster."

Balbhadrapur resident Dilip Mishra said: "There is ankle-deep water in our rooms. We fear we will contract water-borne diseases. We keep hearing the civic body is prepared to tackle flood scenarios, but all its claims stand exposed."

Darbhanga's former mayor Ajay Paswan said: "Over 75 per cent of the town is waterlogged and it is pouring intermittently. It means the civic body has not paid attention to the drainage system."