Bihar flood toll reaches 156, twins born on boat

New Delhi: With three more deaths reported on Sunday the toll in Bihar rose to 156 as there was no let up in the flood situation in the state while in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh the Ganga continues to flow above the danger level.

In Bihar, the three deaths were reported from Samastipur while a twin was born on an NDRF rescue boat in Patna.

The Ganga is flowing above the red marks in four districts.

In the national capital it was a sultry day and maximum temperature settled three notches above normal at 37 degrees Celsius. The minimum was 27.5 degrees Celsius.

An NDRF release said they got a request from the family members of Rekha Devi (25) for help. Within 50 minutes, an NDRF team reached Bihar's Chandrapura village to shift the pregnant woman to Mohanpur primary health centre but she gave birth to twins on board.

The new-borns and the mother were admitted to the PHC.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inspected relief camps in Bhagalpur. He later reached Purnea where he held a meeting with top officials. He will visit Katihar tomorrow.

5.56 lakh people have been rescued so far from the 12 flood-affected districts. The government is plying 2,821 boats for evacuation.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Ganga and Yamuna rivers have been receding with no fresh rainfall but they are still flowing above their respective danger marks at several places.

8.7 lakh people in 987 villages in Varanasi, Allahabad, Ghazipur and Ballia remain affected due to floods. The state government has alerted the health department for outbreak of any disease.

According to a Central Water Commission report, river Ganga is receding everywhere in the state but is still flowing above danger mark at Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia.

The flood situation in West Bengal's Malda district remained unchanged with the Ganga water level standing static at 48 cm above the extreme danger level.

Additional District Magistrate Kanchan Chowdhury said over 5,550 families in 45 villages are affected.

In Rajasthan, heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places in Kota, Udaipur and Jodhpur divisions. Light to moderate rains at many other areas in the state.

Keshoraipatan in Bundi recorded maximum of 14 cm rains followed Pirawa in Jhalawar (at 11 cm) till this morning since yesterday while Kota registered 10 cm precipitation.

The MeT department has issued heavy rainfall warning at isolated areas tomorrow.

Several places in Himachal Pradesh received heavy rains with Dharamshala being the wettest (106 mm rains) while Jogindernagar received 80 mm rains.

Meanwhile, most parts of Punjab and Haryana faced their maximum temperatures upto three notches above normal, barring few places where it was one notch below normal.

In Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, the maximum settled at 36 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.