Over 2. 5 million affected due to floods in bihar

The flood situation in Bihar continued to remain grim onTuesday with over 2.5 million people affected by it across the 12 districts ofthe state, officials said. In the last 24 hours, all the

major rivers were flowingabove the danger level, leading to embankment breaches. There were reports of fresh floods in three new districts ofSaharsa, Katihar and Purnea. Dozens of villages

have been inundated that have forcedpeople to flee their homes and seek shelter at safer places, a disastermanagement official said. In the worst hit Sitamarhi and Araria districts, roads

havealso been damaged. The floods were caused by heavy rain in north Bihar and thecatchment areas of major rivers in neighbouring Nepal. However, Water Resources Department officials said

the waterlevel in rivers originating in Nepal was likely to decrease as rain in thoseareas have stopped. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar carried out an aerial survey ofthe affected Seemanchal

and Koshi region on Sunday and Monday. He will informthe Bihar Assembly on Tuesday about the situation. To date, 196 relief camps have been set up in the affectedareas, with 644 community

kitchens providing food to the displaced people. The Disaster Management Department said relief and rescueoperations were continuing in the flood-affected areas. A total of 26 companies of

the National Disaster ResponseForce, State Disaster Response Force and Seema Sashatra Bal have been deployedto carry out the operations.