Patna, Aug. 29: More than two weeks after the devastating floods hit 21 districts of Bihar, the death toll for the first time did not increase over a 24-hour period and remained static at 514 as relief operations gathered pace across the state.

Though the floodwaters are receding in most of the north Bihar districts, the situation was still precarious in Muzaffarpur, Samastipur and Darbhanga districts owing to the swollen Burhi Gandak, Bagmati and Adhwara rivers.

Around 1.72 crore people have been hit by the floods of whom 8.55 lakh had to be evacuated to safer areas.

The government is now gearing up to provide initial cash relief of Rs 6,000 to each of the over 30 lakh affected families by September 2. This will be followed by compensation for the destruction of crops, houses, cattle and other assets.

Officials from various departments are conducting last-minute assessments to finalise the memorandum of demand that has to be submitted to the central government by September 2.

However, the state government has already submitted a demand of Rs 10,787 crore to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited Bihar on August 26 for an aerial survey of the Seemanchal region comprising Purnea, Araria, Katihar and Kishanganj districts - the worst-affected districts.

Of the money demanded, Rs 4,110 crore will go towards compensating individuals for the losses suffered by them.

Meanwhile, 116 relief camps are still functioning and around 1.39 lakh people are staying in them. During the peak period of the current floods, 1,358 camps were established. Also, 435 out of a total of 1,646 community kitchens set up during the floods are still operating feeding some 1.7 lakh people.

The river Ganga is flowing below the danger level in the state. This has assisted in speedy draining of the floodwaters from the Mahananda river. The Katihar district administration has expressed its desire to de-requisition the army column deputed there to conduct rescue and relief operations.

However, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which has deployed 28 teams across the flood-hit areas will still stay put as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall in north Bihar and Nepal later this week.

The NDRF teams helped evacuate over 46,000 flood affected people, saved 47 people from drowning in the floodwaters and also assisted in three childbirths on its rescue boats. It provided medical assistance to 13,604 people across the state, retrieved 39 dead bodies and distributed 132 tonnes of food material among the flood-ravaged people earning praise for its sterling performance.

Manjhi cheque

Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Tuesday donated a cheque of Rs 1.10 lakh to the chief minister's relief fund for flood-affected people. He donated another Rs 2.10 lakh provided by his party HAM (S)'s state unit and Rs 2 lakh donated by the party's national unit.

Bhopal help

The Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday donated Rs 5 crore to the Bihar chief minister's relief fund for providing flood assistance.