27 Dead As Rain Batters Bihar, Schools In Patna Shut Till Tuesday

Patna: 27 people have died in Bihar after incessant rain in the state left many parts, including capital Patna, flooded. The weather office has warned of more rain in the 24 districts in state in the next 24 hours. Schools in Patna are closed till Tuesday anticipating heavy rain. Patna was brought to a standstill over the weekend after many areas submerged in water that rose up to the chest. 

Residents in inundated areas were taken out in rescue boats. "Even the weather department seems clueless, making different predictions at different points of time," Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters on Sunday. Bihar's neighboring state Uttar Pradesh saw 87 deaths in the last five days due to heavy rain.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar drove through the flooded streets of the city's worst-affected localities like Rajendra Nagar, issuing instructions to officials, who accompanied him during the round.

The Bihar government has asked the Indian Air Force for two helicopters for lifting and airdropping food packets and medicines in the flood-affected areas of Patna. The state government has also asked the Air Force for de-watering machines.

This morning, there is some relief with no rain in the state capital. On Sunday, apart from rescue boats, municipal cranes normally used for moving earth were also used to rescue people. Many residents were stranded in their homes without electricity and water supply.

19 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in affected areas of Bihar.

A bird's eye view of Patna made the city appear like a huge lake dotted with concrete structures. Posh low-lying areas like Rajendra Nagar and Pataliputra Colony were flooded. Private hospitals, medical stores and other shops were submerged in waist-deep water. Visuals showed flooding at Nalanda Medical College Hospital, the second largest healthcare facility in the city.

Many trains have in Bihar have been cancelled or diverted due to flooding of railway tracks and, in some places, damage caused to bridges.

In rain-ravaged eastern Uttar Pradesh, 87 people have died since Thursday. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked authorities to not give leaves to government officials.

The worst-affected places in Uttar Pradesh are Ballia , Varanasi , Jaunpur districts. 500 of the 950 prisoners of the district jail in Ballia are being moved out to another jail after rain water entered three barracks.

Air traffic has also been affected as GoAir announced on Twitter that it has diverted its flights from Mumbai to Lucknow and those from Delhi to Varanasi. GoAir and IndiGo, issued advisories to passengers from the city to leave for the airport well in advance, warning of slow traffic. SpiceJet also urged passengers to "keep a check on flight status" since movement of flights could get affected "due to bad weather in Patna".