India News | Govt Bulletin Says 83.62 Lakh People in 16 Districts Flood-hit in Bihar; Not So, Claims Official
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. No fresh areas were inundated by flood water for the fourth consecutive day in Bihar where 83.62 lakh people across 16 districts were affected by the deluge, the official bulletin of the Disaster Management Department said on Wednesday.
Patna, Aug 26 (PTI) No fresh areas were inundated by flood water for the fourth consecutive day in Bihar where 83.62 lakh people across 16 districts were affected by the deluge, the official bulletin of the Disaster Management Department said on Wednesday.
The number of flood victims and affected areas remained the same since Saturday, it said adding that 83,62,451 people in 1,333 panchayats of 130 blocks are reeling under the impact of the calamity.
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However, an official of the department said that the "situation has been improving every day" in the state and flood water has receded from many areas and it is evident from the decreasing number of people getting food from community kitchens.
When pointed out that figures do not reflect any improvement for the past four days, the official said that 83.62 lakh is the cumulative figure of people affected by the flood so far, but that does not mean that all of them are still hit by the deluge.
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Barring some parts of Gopalganj, Samastipur, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur districts, flood water has receded from many areas in the state, the official said.
The number of people being served cooked food and that of community kitchens are decreasing gradually, he said.
The number of flood relief centres and that of the people staying in them are also coming down, he said.
The bulletin on Wednesday said that 1.26 lakh people were fed at 156 community kitchens. On Tuesday, these figures were 1.38 lakh and 174 respectively.
The official said that the affected number of blocks and panchayats on August 12 were 127 and 1,271 respectively.
On that day, around 8.90 lakh people got cooked food from 1,121 community kitchens while 12,479 flood victims were staying in seven relief centres.
Six relief centres are now functional in the state in which 5,186 people are lodged, according to Wednesdays bulletin.
It has to be kept in mind that the number of affected areas is now more than that on August 12, the official said.
Flood-related deaths remained unchanged at 27.
The highest 11 casualties were registered in Darbhanga district, followed by six in Muzaffarpur, four in West Champaran and two each in Saran, Siwan and Khagaria.
The bulletin said that about 5.50 lakh people have been evacuated so far by 26 teams of National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force.
Meanwhile, the Ganga continued to flow above the danger mark at three places in the state -- Gandhi Ghat and Hathidah in Patna and Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, the Water Resources Department said.
The river is flowing 19 cm above the danger level at Gandhi Ghat, over 27 cm above it at Hathidah and more than 29 cm above the red mark at Kahalgaon, it said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)