Children play on a flooded street after heavy rains in New Delhi yesterday.
- IANS/Patna: The surging numbers of coronavirus infections coupled with overflowing rivers in Bihar has wreaked havoc on the people of the state.
- Floods are not a new phenomenon in Bihar.
- Though people are reeling under the floods they are determined in their fight against both the coronavirus and the deluge.
- Of the 38 districts in Bihar, Patna, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda and Siwan have seen the havoc of coronavirus while in Madhepura, Gopalganj, West Champaran, Darbhanga, Khagaria, Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts the overflowing rivers have destroyed people’s homes and livelihood.
- The people of Benipur village in Muzaffarpur have taken shelter near the embankment, deserting their homes owing to the floods in the Bagmati river.
- They are not worried about getting food or being infected by the virus.
- An elderly man Awadhesh Singh, who lives in a hut near the embankment, stares helplessly in the overcast sky expecting the worst.
- Asked why he did not wear a mask, he said, “What will corona do to us? We die every year. Corona is only for this year, it will be gone in a few days, but what about the floods? The rain above, the river down, everything has been submerged.”
- Katgharwa village in Sadar block of Gopalangaj is submerged, and people are being evacuated and housed in a relief camp at the government school in Mungraha.
- Though the government has promised relief to the people, anxiety is writ large on their faces.
- Neeraj, who lives in a relief camp, says, “Covid may afford us some time but floods destroy instantly so we are all geared up to protect ourselves from the floods.”
- In Gopalganj, many villages of Sadar and Manjagarh blocks are submerged.
- Disaster Management Department additional secretary Ramchandra Doo said the department is on alert in view of the increased water level in various rivers.
- Nearly 16 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed in several districts for flood rescue operations.
- “During the flood rescue operations this year our NDRF personnel are strictly following the protective guidelines and protocols amid Covid-19,” an official said.
- In Assam too, amid the rising Covid-19 cases, the flood situation remained grim yesterday.
- Two more persons died in Nagaon and Morigaon districts, raising the death toll in the monsoon deluge to 87, while around 24.20 lakh people in 24 of the 33 districts continue to be marooned.
- Heavy monsoon rains affected normal life in most other northeastern states.
- The rainwater has inundated vast human habitations and low-lying areas of Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
- Forest Department and Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said that at least 116 animals have been killed in floods and 143 animals rescued even as 90% of the world famous Kaziranga National Park, home to more than 2,200 one-horned Indian rhinoceros, remained flooded.
- Besides Kaziranga National Park, located on the edge of the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspots of Golaghat and Nagaon districts, the Manas and R G Orang national parks, the Pabitora wildlife and the Tinsukia wildlife sanctuaries are also affected. Source: https://www.gulf-times.com
