Heavy rain and acute waterlogging for the last 36 hours in Patna and certain parts of Bihar have thrown life out of gear, with the district administration pressing the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to shift marooned people to safer places.
Earlier, the State Disaster Management Department had sounded a red alert in 13 districts of Bihar for heavy rain. The situation is bad in Katihar, Purnia, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Begusarai, Kishanganh, which have been experiencing incessant heavy rain for the last 36 hours.
In Patna, certain areas like Rajendra Nagar, Kadam Kuan, Kankerbagh, Patliputra colony and Lohanipur situation are seeing people having to tackle neck-deep water owing to continuous rain.
Electricity, phone connection, Internet have gone kaput in these areas for the last 36 hours and people are considering vacating their residences for safer places. The rainwater has entered the ground floor of most of the houses, forcing residents to move to the first floor or to stay with their relatives and friends.
The district administration has pressed the SDRF personnel to ferry people from one place to another but very few boats are seen plying in the Rajendra Nagar area.
Cycle-rickshaws are charging exorbitant prices even for short distances.
Residents are resorting makeshift arrangements using plastic pipes, vehicle tubes and bamboos to cross the neck-deep water.
“There is no drainage system in the cities...if the situation is like this in a posh colony like Rajendra Nagar in the State capital, we can well imagine the situation in other parts of the State,” said Rajendra Nagar resident Sanjay Kumar. For the last 24 hours, Dr. Kumar has been struggling to shift his ultra-sound equipment from the ground floor to the first floor in Kankerbagh area. “These are very costly equipment and if it is submerged, I’ll lose lakhs of rupees,” he said.
“We’re facing hardships ... shortage of milk and other necessities...,” said another resident Ashutosh Kumar and added, “and, the government is preparing to make Patna a smart city with Metro”.
There is four to five ft water outside the residence of State Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi in Road No. 8 of Rajendra Nagar.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has forecast rain till September 30 in some parts of the State.
