Battered by heavy rainfall for the third consecutive day, Bihar recorded at least 18 deaths on Sunday due to inundated streets, water-logged railway tracks and marooned business establishments.
The State capital continued to be among the worst affected, with some parts submerged in water levels rising up to the chest and its residents being rescued with the help of municipal cranes normally used for moving earth.
“It is nature’s fury before which man is often helpless. We are, however, trying our best. The problem is we have no idea how long the downpour which caps a prolonged dry spell causing a drought-like situation is going to last.
“Even the weather department seems clueless, making different predictions at different points of time,” Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters.
He was speaking after holding a meeting with officials including those of the disaster management department where he also interacted with officials in the other districts through video conferencing.
He later drove through the water-logged streets and the worst-affected localities issuing instructions to officials.
The cranes turned saviours as these were used to pick up people — many of them girls and boys from far-off districts who came here for studies and put up at hostels — stranded in places rendered inaccessible through normal modes of transport.
Business has been hit badly as even drug stores were forced to keep the shutters down for fear of the stocks getting damaged and even swept away by the gushing water.
The East Central Railway, head-quartered in Hajipur and covering most parts of the State, said many trains had been cancelled, short-terminated or diverted on account of water-logging and damage caused to bridges.
ECR Chief Public Relations Officer also said, “All trains passing through Patna junction have been mandated to stop at Danapur as well. The move has been taken to bring some relief to the people who are greatly inconvenienced by the water-logging inside and around the junction.
Air traffic has also been affected as GoAir announced on Twitter that it had diverted its flights from Mumbai to Lucknow and those from Delhi to Varanasi.
The air carrier, along with IndiGo, issued advisories to passengers from the city to leave for the airport well in advance, apprehending traffic snarls.
SpiceJet also urged passengers to “keep a check on flight status” since movement of flights could get affected “due to bad weather in Patna”.
