Over 8k rescued as flood relief ramps up in Bhagalpur
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Bhagalpur: With the rising number of flood-affected victims in various blocks, the district administration has increased community kitchens to 141 at relief centres for those displaced by the floods.
These kitchens have been strategically placed in areas where flood-ravaged residents are taking shelter.
Most affected villages and diara areas fall within six blocks – Narayanpur and Rangrachowk under Naugachia subdivision; Sultanganj, Sahkund, Nathnagar and Sabour under Bhagalpur Sadar subdivision and Sabour under Kahalgaon subdivision. Villages in Jagdishpur, Kahalgaon and Pirpainty blocks have been partially affected by the floods.
Nine teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), equipped with inflated rubber rescue Bboats (IRRBs), life jackets, medical kits and other essentials, are actively engaged in rescue operations across the swollen river Ganga and its tributaries. This is in addition to 69 boats already deployed to rescue marooned victims and transport them to safe relief centres.
Bhagalpur DM Nawal Kishor Choudhary told this newspaper on Tuesday that more than 8,000 flood victims stranded in remote locations have been rescued and moved to relief centres by the NDRF and SDRF teams using nine IRRBs. Two NDRF teams are working in Naugachia subdivision with one each in Sabour and Kahalgaon. Meanwhile, two SDRF teams operate in Sultanganj, two in Nathnagar and one in Sahkund block, all equipped with IRRBs, life jackets, and emergency kits, he added.
Referring to the 141 community kitchens serving hygienic food and drinking water to displaced persons, the DM said, "There are 38 community kitchens in Nathnagar block, 34 in Sultanganj, 25 in Sabour, 20 in Sahkund, six in Rangrachowk, six in Ismailpur and two each in Jagdishpur, Kahalgaon and Pirpainty blocks." Each relief centre and kitchen is monitored by nodal officers assigned to them, he added.
Health department teams, the public health engineering department (PHED) and other agencies are assisting flood victims at the camps.
Officials from the flood control division are overseeing the embankments and bundhs, while the rural works department monitors the condition of roads and their flanks amid widespread inundation. Polythene sheets have been distributed to 6,325 flood-affected families, the DM said.
"Besides rescuing people and ensuring their safety and necessities, efforts are ongoing to rescue cattle and livestock," he added. Medical experts provide round-the-clock care to the flood victims while veterinary doctors tend to the livestock of those affected.
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