Central team to assess damages
A central team of the ministry of home affairs is likely to visit Patna on Monday to assess the extent of damage caused by floods in large parts of north Bihar.
Bihar deputy chief minister Renu Devi on Saturday said the state government has requested the Centre for a first-hand assessment of the flood situation, which has affected more than half the state by destroying buildings, crops, roads, canals and embankments and disrupting train movement.
According to officials aware of the developments, the Bihar government may seek Central assistance of ₹5000 crore and more due to the magnitude of devastation as per preliminary estimates.
“The real magnitude will unfold once the water recedes. This time rivers have been in spate for a much longer time. At present, the main focus of the state government is immediate relief and rehabilitation,” an official said, adding that the Centre should be generous in helping a financially poor state like Bihar fight the twin scourge of Covid and floods for the second year in succession.
According to preliminary estimates, 53 persons have died and 2 million people, spread across 1652 villages in 83 blocks of 16 districts, have been affected by this year’s floods while 219,000 residents have been evacuated.
According to the Bihar government’s disaster management department’s data, ₹6000 each has been distributed among 795,538 families so far, entailing an expenditure of ₹477.32 crore. A rough estimation suggested that standing crops on more than 400,000 hectares of land were inundated.
Extensive damage to floodprotection infrastructure, including embankments, has also been reported due to heavy discharge of water, which accentuated the problem further, owing to heavy silting in the state rivers, including the Ganga. The same issue was raised with the Central team after the 2016 floods.
Earlier, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had requested that a team of experts be sent to make an on-the-spot assessment of the cause of floods to help find a permanent remedy to Bihar’s chronic problem. The main purpose of the team’s visit was to look into heavy siltation in the stretch of the Ganga river in the state, a problem the chief minister has consistently attributed to the Farakka barrage. The team had gone up to Farakka to examine the situation in the Ganga basin to submit its report, but Bihar’s flood woes have continued.
Kumar had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the demand for a review of the need for Farakka barrage and a national silt management policy. He has been in favour of dismantling the Farakka barrage.
Though floods are a chronic problem in Bihar, the situation aggravated in 2016 and again this year after the Ganga water level reached an unprecedented level, played havoc in several areas. Even Patna was under a serious threat of floods at one point.
Embankments have been damaged on a stretch of 753 kms, zamindari bandhs — centuries-old embankments erected by big landlords and royal courts to protect against floods — have been damaged on a stretch of 84 kms, while spurs, studs etc. have got damaged on a stretch of 157 kms. All of this requires nearly ₹1500 crore for repairs and reconstruction, as per state disaster relief fund (SDRF) norms.
“I also visited flood-hit Khagaria on Saturday and saw that the devastation caused by floods was massive, but the good thing is that people have got timely relief and support. The government’s preparations before the floods have come in handy in ensuring quick relief and rescue of the needy population,” said Renu Devi.
She said the Central team will also visit some places. “We have already sent a preliminary assessment of the damages to the Centre. As the water recedes, more assessment will be done,” she added.