15 die in Araria, many shift to NH in Madhubani district

ARARIA/MADHUBANI: The flood situation in Araria remained grim on Monday as 15 persons have reportedly died so far in floods in the district. However, officials confirmed only nine deaths.
A pregnant woman of Ghoraghat panchayat died while one child was washed away and four others were rescued at Jokihat. An old man died under Rampur panchayat for lack of medical help due to floods.A woman died at Trauna in Bhojpur panchayat while a man died under Bistoria panchayat in Raniganj block.
Floodwaters inundated many wards of Jogbani, Forbesganj and Araria town. However, the condition in low-lying areas in Kursakanta, Palasi, Sikti and Jokihat was more pathetic.
But people in Madhubani had some respite as the swollen rivers showed downward trend because of no fresh rain during the past 24 hours. But Lack of relief material worsened the situation. NH-57 has virtually become a shelter for hundreds of people.
Fakir Saday and Shrichand Saday of Pahi village were on the highway with their families and livestock. Drinking water has become the most disturbing problem. Dhiraj Paswan claimed not even a token of relief had reached the victims so far, while Munni Devi of Lohana village complained that spouses of migrant labourers away from home to eke out their livelihood were being denied even polythene sheets by the administration.
The district administration claimed only four of the 73 panchayats were fully affected by floods, though 1.20 lakh people in over 15 blocks and 73 panchayats were badly affected by floodwaters. Ishnath Jha of Naruar asserted that not less than 30 houses were washed away in his village.
Navatol panchayat mukhiya Amarnath Jha, along with some youths, was seen distributing ‘khichadi’ and bottled drinking water among the flood victims on the highway. Intriguingly, calls on official mobile numbers of officials are mostly not responded.