Patna/Guwahati, August 1 (PTI): Number of casualties in Bihar floods remained unchanged at 130 for the second consecutive day Thursday, whereas in its neighbourhood Assam deluge condition improved considerably with water level of all the major rivers and its tributaries receding.
In Bihar close to nine million people were said to be affected by floods till Thursday, according to the state disaster management department.
The number of people affected by floods, according to the department, has reached 88.46 lakh and they are spread across 1269 Panchayats falling under 111 blocks of 13 districts.
Good news continued to come from Assam where life was slowly returning to normal in the flood affected districts.
A population of 3,64,553 in 459 villages of 12 districts are currently affected by the floods, according to the flood bulletin of Assam State Disaster Management Agency (ASDMA).
There was no report of any fresh casualty due to floods and the death toll in the current wave of floods stays at 86 there.
At a programme for environment conservation that he kicked off earlier in the day, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grave concern on climate change which he blamed for the flash floods that have ravaged several parts of the state despite the overall rainfall remaining short of normal levels.
The chief minister pointed out that the state used to receive annual rainfall in excess of 1200 mm in the 1970s, which has come down to less than 1000 mm for more than a decade, yet unusually heavy rainfall over a period of a few days, especially in catchment areas of adjoining Nepal, caused the calamity last month as it had done two years ago.
He also called for concerted efforts towards environment conservation which could reverse climate change and protect the planet from further destruction in the name of development.
Torrential rainfall in Nepal in the second week of July, besides heavy showers in districts of Bihar situated on the border, had caused half a dozen rivers including Bagmati, Kamla, Khiroi and Burhi Gandak to swell, which continue to be above danger level at many places.
Relief and rehabilitation is in full swing with the state government being assisted in the operations by 19 teams of the NDRF. Last week, two helicopters were sent by the Indian Air Force for air dropping food and other relief material.
In the eastern state of Assam, the marooned districts are Dhemaji, Darrang, Barpeta, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Chirang, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Charaideo.
The flood-hit people are returning to their homes with 3,795 inmates currently lodged in 33 relief camps at Barpeta, Chirang, Morigaon, Nagaon and Jorhat.
The water level of River Brahmaputra at Neamatighat in Jorhat and Dhubri; Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Rd Xing in Sonitpur and Beki ar Rd. Bridge in Barpeta, the report added.
