Floods ravage East, NE states
Heavy rains in the last three days triggered flash floods in parts of Bihar, where 41 people have died so far, and inundated large areas in Assam and North Bengal, paralysing normal life and snapping rail link to the Northeast from the rest of the country. In Arunachal Pradesh too, the flood situation continued to be grim in several districts with recurring landslides disrupting road traffic.
As many as 20 states have been affected during the current southwest monsoon season. According to available information, 600 people have lost their lives, 24,811 cattle heads have perished, 63,215 houses/huts damaged and about 2.8 lakh hectare of crop reportedly affected due to heavy rains, floods and landslides.
The flood situation is likely to worsen with the Met department forecasting heavy to very heavy rain in neighbouring states of West Bengal, Meghalaya and parts of Assam till Wednesday.
Nitish holds aerial survey
Lakhs of people have been severely hit in Bihar, where three columns of Army were deployed in Katihar district for the relief and rescue operation. Forty-one people have died in floods so far, said Principal Secretary (disaster management) Pratyay Amrit.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit areas, told reporters that Araria was …read more