Published 15:54 IST, July 15th 2019
Floods update: Assam & Bihar brought to a stand-still amid heavy rains and floods, details here
Incessant rains have caused havoc leading to floods in several parts of India including Bihar, Assam and other states of the North East over the last one week.
Update at 4:11 PM: Water level of Brahmaputra river flowing through Guwahati crosses danger level in Assam.
Incessant rains have caused havoc leading to floods in several parts of India including Bihar, Assam and other states of the North East over the last one week. The floods have affected the lives of lakhs of people, after being displaced from their homes. As per reports, over 15 lakh people in eight districts of Bihar have been displaced, while over 26 lakh people have been affected due to flood in Assam. The heavy rains have taken over 10 lives in Assam so far.
Bihar floods
With the heavy downpour, eight districts of Bihar including, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, East Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Supaul and Kishanganj, have faced grave problems. As per reports, the flood has been caused by incessant rainfall in Nepal and water discharge from Birpur barrage in the neighbouring country. Amid the intensifying situation, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas of several districts on Sunday.
Streets of Ambala, Darbhanga and other parts of the state have flooded in the aftermath of heavy rainfall. Furthermore, the water level in Kamala River, along with other rivers including Bagmati, Kosi and Gandak has risen.
Rescue operations are underway throughout the state with NDRF and SDRF sending teams and running several camps for the flood-affected people, confirmed Disaster Management Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit. Meanwhile, the state Met department has predicted more rain and thunderstorm in Bihar over the next four days.
Northeast floods
With the rising water in Brahmaputra river due to heavy rains in the north-eastern states of India on Monday, lives of nearly 26.5 lakh people have been affected. Reportedly, at least 11 people have died in Assam. In Meghalaya, rising river waters have resulted in the displacement of over 1 lakh people across 100s of villages. At least 10,000 people of two districts of Tripura are forced to move to shelter homes due to heavy continuous rainfall.
Kaziranga National Park has flooded in Assam, along with 100s of roads damaged, or submerged in rain water.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday directed the NDRF and all agencies dealing with flood rescue and relief operations to remain on high alert so that they can handle any situation arising out of the natural calamity across the states.
(This is a developing story)
Updated 16:12 IST, July 15th 2019