Purnea/Muzaffarpur, July 13: Four rivers in spate have spelt doom for residents of three blocks in Purnea.

The floodwaters of Mahananda, Kankai, Parman and Penar engulfed Amour, Baisi and Baisa blocks displacing over 36,000 people.

The water inundated 331 villages of 57 panchayats of the district, about 330km northeast of Patna.

The district administration has set up 56 relief camps in inundated areas and affected people are being delivered food. Boats have been pressed into service to evacuate residents. Purnea district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said: “We have put 80 mechanical boats and seven motorboats for evacuation in the flood-hit areas. The district administration is extending all help to evacuate the trapped people. The waters of the Mahananda, Kankai, Parman and Penar inundated Amour, Baisi and Baisa blocks of the district. We hope the water recedes in 2-3 days.”

Verma added: “Two teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), one at Amour and another at Baisi have been deployed for relief and evacuation work. Four persons, including three at Amour and one at Baisi have died. We have provided compensation to the families of the deceased.”

Baisi resident Ajmal Khan said: “Floodwater started inundating the villages since July 10 but we never realised it would cause such misery. Floods occur every year but this time it has put us through a lot of suffering.”

The four rivers have flooded 57 out of 246 panchayats of the district.

Apart from Purnea, five blocks at Katihar and two blocks of Kishanganj have been submerged. Relief work has already started to help displaced families.

In Muzaffarpur, NDRF personnel have started taking control in flood-ravaged Aurai, Katra and Gaighat blocks from Saturday.

More than 500 marooned people from Chainpur, Bara Buzurg and Bara Khurd villages of Aurai block have been evacuated by the NDRF.

District magistrate (DM) Anupam Kumar said the team was been pressed into service after the Bagmati inundated several villages. The Budhi Gandak has submerged low-lying areas of Sikandarpur. Villagers of Athar in Bochahan are living in fear after the water flowed into the villages near Atharghat.

“The residents of the area have started fleeing to higher areas for safety,” said Mohammad Haider Ali of Athar village. The DM said the engineers of the water resources department have started camping to keep tabs on the embankments. According to reports, the Bagmati is flowing above the danger mark and has submerged 1,500 houses across 12 villages in Aurai block.