Bihar floods: People suffer as govt refuses to call in Army

NEW DELHI: As the water-logging in Patna is turning out to be a major catastrophe for city dwellers, the state government's ‘stand' to not seek the help of the Army in rescuing stranded people is adding to their woes.

According to Patna Collectorate officials, the Patna administration has asked for deployment of more personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel to rescue stranded people in water-logged areas.

The Patna administration has not yet requisitioned for the deployment of Army personnel in carrying out rescue operation in water-logged areas of the capital city of Bihar, the officials informed over phone.

“Given the magnitude of the problem, even the ‘heroic' works done by both the disaster agencies would turn out to be a tall order as it would take several days for the agencies to rescue above 4 lakh people living in various water-logged areas,” a senior official, who has witnessed such catastrophic conditions in the past, said.

Explaining about the practical challenges associated with NDRF and SDRF in performing rescue work, the official said, “The rescue boats of Army are smaller and motorless which can be used to rescue stranded people from every locality. While NDRF boats are motor fitted, which need at least 4 feet of water level to move from one area to another.”

However, Patna DM Kumar Ravi remained incommunicado despite several attempts to get his comments over the issue. However, there are about 20 NCC cadets who are helping with their own boat and equipment, while another 15 are stationed at the Dinkar crossing to help rescued people.

Commenting on it, Major General Rajiv Kumar Gupta, additional director general, NCC, said, “We are in action from day-one without waiting for any direction from anyone and placed our boat and tractor into service. As our boat is manually operated, we are able to take it to any part seamlessly.”

The food packets prepared by the NCC officers' wives are being distributed in affected parts through our tractor, Gupta said, adding, “We are getting calls for the help from different parts of the country. Callers are either defence personnel or civilians.” Even though the NCC directorate is situated in Saidpur, which is badly water-logged, the government has not yet sought any help from Army. However, the Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers have been pressed in service for dropping relief material.

Meanwhile, the Patna administration has deployed 75 teams around the city to sprinkle bleaching powder to remove animal carcasses as clogged rainwater begun to recede from several areas.