Bihar: Heavy Rainfall Throws Life Out of Gear, 2 Dead

Patna: Normal life was thrown out of gear across Bihar, including Patna, on Saturday, September 28, with heavy to extremely heavy rains continuing. The state government has issued high alert in all the districts and deployed National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) team to evacuate people from the low lying areas. The meteorological department has predicted heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the next three days in over one dozen districts. So far two casualty have been reported from a village in Gaya district where a woman and her child died after a house collapsed due to heavy rains.

With heavy rains lashing the state since Thursday, the entire state is under water. People have been forced indoors due to water logged roads in urban as well as in rural areas.

In Patna, a smart city in making, this heavy downpour in the last two days has exposed the lies behind the Municipal Corporation’s repeated claims of smooth drainage. “Entire Patna is water logged because of choked drainage. It has caused havoc in the residential localities in Patna,” Saket Kumar, a businessman from Patna told NewsClick.

Massive water logging has forced the district administration to deploy boats in the roads of Patna to help the people.

Syed Iqbal, a vendor on a pavement near Gandhi Maidan, said that water is everywhere from the premises of Bihar Assembly to Patna University, Mithapur Bus stand to Railway station, Moinul Haque stadium to NIT square, Dak Bungalow square to Exhibition road, in the heart of Patna. He said, “What is disturbing is that water has also entered the government run Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH), as well as other private hospitals and clinics, causing huge problem to the common people.” Officials of PMCH and ANMCH admitted that water has entered inside different wards and doctors’ chambers on the ground floor.

Also read: Death Toll Rises to 92 as Bihar Flood Situation Turns Grim

Due to the heavy rains, Patliputra University has postponed its entrance exam on Saturday for BEd course and Patna University has postponed its entrance exam for PhD course. Patna district administration has also ordered closure of all schools till further order.

According to reports, water also entered the residence of former CM Satender Narayan Singh, BJP MP Rajeev Pratao Rudy and over a dozen leaders of different parties in Patna. Similar news have been reported from all across Bihar.

Rajesh Kumar, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of East Central Railway (ECR), said the train services have been temporarily suspended in Samastipur rail section and Dhanbad rail section due to heavy rains. According to him, train services were disrupted on Gaya-Koderma route after a stone fell on the railway track for five hours and it was resumed at 7.30 on Saturday morning.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday directed officials of worst hit districts to take all measures including relief and rescue for people. Principal secretary of disaster department Pratyaya Amrit said that he has alerted all the districts where heavy to extremely heavy rains are expected on Saturday and Sunday.

Officials of water resources department said the water level of all rivers are rising, triggering inundation of several towns and rural areas and putting pressure on rivers embankments. Bihar Water Resources Minister Sanjay Jha here admitted that there is threat to river embankments at some places in north Bihar districts.

According to officials, river water gushed in dozens of villages in Muzaffarpur, West Champaran and East Champaran. In Muzaffarpur, heavy rainfall has resulted in water-logging in the entire town due to failure of drainage system. Similar situation has been reported from Darbhanga, East Champaran and Bhagalpur.

Officials of the disaster department said that the situation may worsen following rise in water level of major rivers after more heavy rains as predicted in the next two to three days.

However, farmers are happy following the heavy rains as it has given new hope for the standing paddy crops. After a long dry spell during the Shravan and Bhado months (5th and 6th months of the Hindu calendar), heavy rainfall came as a good news for farmers during the ongoing Hathiya nakhshatra. “It has certainly ended the fear of drought this time,” Dinesh Mahto, a marginal farmer from Vaishali district said.

Also read: Bihar Floods: Annual Affair of Displacement, Loss and Helplessness

Mahto’s views are echoed in the entire state as nearly two-thirds of all agricultural activity in the state is dependent on the rains. For most of the state’s population, therefore, a good monsoon is often the difference between life and death.

Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar’s economy, employing 81% of the workforce and generating nearly 42% of the state’s domestic product, according to the state government’s figures. About 76% of Bihar’s population is dependent on agriculture for livelihood.