Patna: Nearly three lakh people in Bihar’s Patna district have been affected by flood on Saturday as the Ganga river breached the danger mark earlier this week and showed a rising trend, the local administration said. The water level in the river, which has been rising steadily over the past few weeks mainly because of flooding upstream, stood more than a metre above the danger mark which was crossed by the swirling waters on August 9.
The gates of the Farakka barrage downstream were opened to prevent inundation of the city though it has not been able to keep pace with the furious pace at which water has been flowing from upstream. According to the district administration, a total of 2.74 lakh people, residing in 43 panchayat areas, falling under nine blocks of rural Patna, have been affected. More than half of the affected population belongs to three worst-hit blocks – Danapur, Maner and Bakhtiyarpur. Altogether 259 boats have been pressed into service to carry out rescue operations and reach out to people with relief material.
The rescued people were being put up at relief camps and fed at community kitchens. Vaccination for COVID 19 was also underway in the flood-hit areas where health officials were reaching to the beneficiaries on boats, said the administration. The floods have also affected areas of the state capital situated along the river. Steps at the ghats have been submerged and made out of bounds for the common people. In low-lying areas like Kangan Ghat, just a few hundred metres from the Takht Harmandir Gurudwara, the streets have been inundated and people could be seen trudging through waist-deep water.
According to the water resources department, water levels at Digha and Gandhi Ghat in the city showed an increase of more than 10 cms since the previous day. However, a falling trend has been witnessed in Buxar district of Bihar and Varanasi and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, all of which are upstream. The department said that this indicated a possibility of the water level in Patna stabilizing and even receding over the next few days provided there was no heavy rainfall.
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