Patna, Aug. 19: Bihar continued to grapple with rescue and relief operations even as 49 more people lost their lives in the floods today and took the death toll to 202.
Floodwaters spread to Saran and Samastipur districts today. Around 1.2 crore people have been affected across 18 districts of north Bihar, while 6.3 lakh have been evacuated to safer areas and relief camps. Around 4.23 lakh people are staying in 1,336 state government relief camps.
Rescue and relief operations continued with the help of local administration, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), army and air force for the eighth consecutive day.
Terming the floods this year as a "severe tragedy" that has all the trappings of flash floods as seen in the trail of devastation left behind, chief minister Nitish Kumar said: "Every possible help will be given to the affected. We will help them rebuild their houses. I believe that victims of disasters have the first right to government coffers."
Nitish said he and his officials conducted aerial surveys of the flood-ravaged districts to assess the damage and revealed "not a single road is intact. Leave alone rural roads or the roads built by the state road construction department, even national highways have been impacted. Mahananda river has wreaked havoc. The Baisi-Amour bridge has been damaged."
The chief minister added that some areas of Araria, Kishanganj and other districts were still inaccessible.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government for their swift response in extending help to the state within hours of the request to send additional teams of NDRF, army and air force, Nitish said the state government will leave no stone unturned to provide relief to the people.
Nitish appealed to JDU leaders and workers to start flood relief work in their respective areas for affected people.
Meanwhile, the state agencies working in rescue and relief operations also focused on restoring road, telecommunication and electricity supply in the disaster-affected areas. Mobile connectivity in Forbesganj in Araria district was restored today after much effort. Army expertise has been called in to restore bridges damaged in the Seemanchal region, which comprises Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar and Purnea districts.
Road construction department minister Nand Kishore Yadav told The Telegraph: "Altogether six bridges in Seemanchal, including three on NH327E in Araria district, have been badly damaged with severe breaches of 30 to 50 metres. We have requested the army to help restore them. They have started assessing the situation."
NH-327E is 100km long and connects Araria to Galgalia, which is located at the tri-junction of Kishanganj-Nepal-Bengal.
Principal road construction secretary Amrit Lal Meena said the army has been roped in to revive movement of vehicles on the damaged bridges because construction of reinforced cement concrete bridges will take a long time.
"The army will help by installing Bailey bridges so that vehicular movement could be started on the damaged bridges. As far as roads in Seemanchal region are concerned, our engineers and contractors are on the ground and we will restore the damaged portions of major roads by Sunday by taking temporary measures to start traffic movement," the principal secretary added.
A senior army officer told The Telegraph that the army has already started moving towards Seemanchal with bridge construction machinery.
The air force dropped 2.2-tonne dry ration in Sugauli School and Sugauli mosque areas in East Champaran district, where thousands of people are huddled to escape flood fury.
The air force also lifted a planeload of 10,000 polythene sheets to Chunapur air base in Purnea district, while another load of 20,000 sheets would come either on Sunday or Monday. These would be distributed among flood-affected families so that they can take shelter from rain and sun.
In a record of sorts, a primary health centre in Lauriya block of West Champaran district has ensured 43 safe deliveries to pregnant women.
