Officials in the state of Bihar in eastern India report flooding in 15 districts has affected 2.7 million people. The Ganges River is at record levels in Bhagalpur and Patna Districts. Rivers across the state are above the danger mark in 26 locations.

Bihar Chief minister, Nitish Kumar, surveys the floods in Bihar, India August 2021 Photo: Government of Bihar

Flooding has affected wide areas of the state for the last 10 days. As of 11 August, seven rivers in the state were above the danger mark in 15 locations, including the Ganges. Over 250,000 people were affected by floods across 125 villages in 5 districts.

Flooding has continued to worsen since then. The Disaster Management Department in Bihar reported on 16 August that flooding has affected 2.7 million people and 2,176 villages across 15 districts in the state. The department said that as many as 12 people have lost their lives.

Over 85,000 of those affected have moved from flooded homes to safer areas, many of them with the assistance of boat teams from the State and National Disaster Response Forces (NDRF). On NDRF team rescued a victim who had taken refuge on the roof of a hut for 2 days.

Relief supplies have been distributed and over community kitchens have supplied meals to thousands of the victims. Almost 22,000 people who had moved to relief camps set up by state authorities.

The affected districts are: Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Khagaria, Saharsa, Patna, Vaishali, Bhojpur, Lakhisarai, Bhagalpur, Saran, Buxar, Begusarai, Katihar, Munger and Samastipur.

The Ganges River is at record levels in Bhagalpur, where it reached 34.75 metres on 16 August, beating the previous high of 34.72 metres set in 2016. In Hathidah in Patna District, the Ganges stood at 43.54 metres, beating the previous high of 43.17 metres, also set in 2016. Rivers across the state are above the danger mark in 26 locations.