78 Killed, 55 Lakh Affected As Flood Situations Worsens In Bihar

Flash floods caused by heavy rains in catchment areas of Nepal have ravaged a dozen districts of Bihar so far, claiming 78 lives and affecting 55 lakh people, the state's disaster management department said on Thursday.

A tiger escaped from the Kaziranga National Park in flood-ravaged Assam and stretched out on a shophouse bed Thursday, startling residents and shining a spotlight on the plight of animals caught up in the deluge.

Chest-deep in brown, flowing monsoon water and holding bags of clothes and utensils above their heads, residents in Bihar are hungry and in despair.

A 24-year-old woman in flood-hit Assam gave birth to a baby boy in a boat on Monday and named him Krishnaafter the Hindu Godwhowas also believed to have been born during massive floods.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday expressed solidarity with flood victims in the north and north-eastern states.

A Royal Bengal tiger looked out of place on a bed inside a house, in a photograph that emerged on Twitter on Thursday from Assam's Kaziranga, where floods have left many animals dead or displaced from the world-renowned national park.

Raising the issue of floods across the country in Rajya Sabha, Rashtriya Janata Dal lawmaker Manoj Jha on Thursday gave Zero Hour notice in the upper house of Parliament.

Death count in the Bihar flash floods, caused by torrential rainfall in the catchment areas of Nepal over the weekend, soared to 67 on Wednesday.

Over 5,000 people were lodged in relief camps and more than 4,000 people were being evacuated in Mizoram following floods triggered by heavy rain for the last seven days, officials said on Wednesday.

Locals in Dangi Tola village of Katihar district in Bihar claimed they have no option but to eat rats as floods have wreaked havoc and destroyed houses in the region.

The number of people affected by the Assam floods rose to 52 lakh today, with as many as 1.5 lakh being moved to relief centres amid a red alert issued by the government. Five more died today, taking the total number of people killed in the floods to 20, even as the Indian Army was called in to assist in rescue operations.

Nearly 52 lakh people have been affected and 1.5 lakh shifted to relief camps in Assam over the last one week due to floods triggered by incessant rain. So far, 20 people have lost their lives, five just today, with 4,600 villages inundated.

Floods in Assam worsened on Tuesday with incessant rain swelling already raging rivers, inundating villages and a rhinoceros sanctuary as 1,000 soldiers were deployed to rescue people fleeing the rising waters.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday that 25 people have so far been killed in flash floods, that have affected 25.71 lakh people in 16 districts of the state.

The death toll from the monsoon floods and landslides in Nepal has increased to 67, while 32 people were reported missing and over 40 others injured, officials said on Monday.

Over the past days heavy rain has wreaked havoc across the country, with the North East states particularly badly affected. The rains have caused damaged to agricultural fields, flooded villages and submerged houses and killed people and livestock.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has offered United Nations (UN) assistance to India and other flood-affected countries in the region.

The flood situation in Bihar continued to remain grim on Tuesday with over 2.5 million people affected by it across the 12 districts of the state, officials said.

In flood-ravaged rural Assam thousands who are displaced are as worried for their lives and that of their families as they are for their citizenship papers.