Patna/Lucknow: The death toll in Bihar floods rose to 253 on Sunday as the already grim situation worsened with more areas getting affected and around 1.26 crore people facing the deluge.
On Saturday, the toll was 202 and the number of affected people was 1.21 crore in 18 districts.
No new district was added to the list of the affected districts on Sunday.
Araria district accounted for 57 deaths alone, followed by Sitamarhi (31), West Champaran (29), Katihar (23), East Champaran (19) while 13 each have died in Madhubani, Supaul and Madhepura, a Disaster Management Department release said.
While 11 deaths were reported in Kishanganj, Darbhanga accounted for 10 deaths, Purnea 9, Gopalganj 8, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur and Saharsa registered 4 deaths each while Khagaria and Saran accounted for 3 and 2 deaths each respectively, it said. A total of 4.21 lakh people have been shifted to 1,358 relief camps in different parts of the state, it said.
Twenty-eight National Disaster Response Force teams comprising 1,152 personnel with 118 boats are involved in rescue and relief operations, an official release said.
Besides, 16 teams of the State Disaster Response Force comprising 466 personnel are helping people in the flood-hit areas with 92 boats, it said, adding 630 Army personnel are also assisting in relief and rescue operations with 70 boats.
The release said the number of community kitchens have been raised to 2,569 from yesterday's 1,879. The number of flood-affected people who are being served at these kitchens have also increased from Saturday's 3.72 lakh to 4.92 lakh, it said.
The MeT office said Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea are likely to witness generally cloudy sky with the possibility of rain or thundershower tomorrow.
In Uttar Pradesh, the death toll in the current wave of floods has risen to 69.
Over 20 lakh people have been hit by the floods in 24 districts of the state.
"The death toll in the floods has reached 69 in the state, where 2,523 villages in 24 districts are flooded affecting a population of over 20 lakh," the relief commissioner's office said here citing a flood report compiled till yesterday.
It said 39,783 persons have take shelter in relief camps in the affected districts of eastern UP where there was no let up in flood fury as raging waters of the rivers emanating from Nepal caused havoc in vast swathes of human habitation.
Reports reaching here said Army choppers, NDRF and PAC (flood) jawans continued relief and rescue operations in the badly hit areas. Release of water in the rivers emanating from Nepal and incessant rains impeded rescue work and evacuation of people to safer areas, they said.
20 companies of the NDRF, 29 companies of PAC (flood) along with two choppers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and several columns of the Army personnel were on job to save lives and properties in the affected areas.
A Central Water Commission report here said that Sharda was flowing above the red mark at Palia Kalan and near the danger mark at Shardanagar while Ghaghra was flowing above the red mark at Elgin Bridge, Ayodhya and Turtipar (Ballia).
4 more dead in Assam floods
Guwahati: The Assam flood situation improved slightly on Sunday, though four more deaths were reported and nearly 19 lakh people still affected in 15 districts due to the natural calamity. According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person each died in Biswanath, Darrang, Kamrup and Morigaon districts in flood-related incidents.
The third wave of the devastating floods has claimed 67 lives so far and the total number of deaths in flood-related incidents in the north-eastern state has gone up to 151 this year, including eight in capital Guwahati. According to the ASDMA, 18.65 lakh people were still affected in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Majuli districts.
Till Saturday, the affected people's number was 22 lakh in 16 districts. As per the ASDMA, Morigaon was worst-hit with 5.21 lakh affected people, followed by Barpeta, where 4.67 lakh people were hit by the deluge.