Bihar floods claim 8 more lives, toll 213

In Bihar, fresh casualties were reported from Vaishali district on the other side of the Ganga from Patna, the state disaster management department said in a statement.

Flood conditions continued to prevail in 12 districts including Patna. A total of 79 blocks and 613 panchayats are inundated at present. The floods have affected 40.60 lakh people in 2,190 villages.

About 3.17 lakh people have been evacuated from the flood-hit Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar districts.

The government has deployed 2,973 boats for evacuation while national and state disaster response forces have already been deployed in the affected districts.  With the flood situation easing, the number of relief camps have come down to 181 where 1.15 lakh people continue to take shelter.