By IANS
Patna : The floods in Bihar, which have claimed 15 lives and affected over two million people so far, threatened to submerge more areas Saturday as river waters reached the danger mark and the government cancelled the leave of all officials posted in the worst-hit districts.
Floods triggered by heavy rains over the last 10 days have inundated over 500 villages in the worst hit districts of Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, Supaul, Patna, Saharsa, Bhagalpur and West Champaran and damaged several embankments.
Over two million people have been badly affected and thousands forced to move out of their homes due to inundation.
“In view of the grim flood situation, the government has cancelled the leave of officers and asked the secretaries to visit the districts to review the situation,” officials said.
A district level relief monitoring and vigilance committee has also been set up.
Road and rail traffic has also been disrupted at several places. The road connecting Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur has been submerged while some trains services were disrupted due to flooding of tracks in many places in Bhagalpur and Madhubani districts.
Officials of the flood control cell blamed the increase in water levels of Nepal’s rivers for the floods in north Bihar.
According to the Central Water Commission, the water levels of Ganga, Bagmati, Kosi, Gandak, Adhwara and Punpun rivers have reached the danger level.
Local media reports said a breach has developed in the Adhwara embankment in Sitamarhi and embankments of Bhutani Balan and Dhaus rivers were breached in Madhubani district.
Dozens of educational institutions have been temporarily closed due to the heavy rains. Floods have disrupted classes in about 60 percent of government schools in Muzaffarpur, 40 percent in Sitamarhi and over 25 percent in Motihari and Darbhanga districts.
The 150-year-old Kendriya Vidyalaya in Chapra was closed after water started seeping from the roof and classes at the Darbhanga Medical College have been suspended till Aug 15.
The meteorological office has predicted normal to heavy rain in the next two days.