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Patna: Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters on Thursday dropped relief materials, including food packets, in Bihar's flood-affected districts, an official said.
Thousands of people were rendered homeless in the state by floods triggered by heavy rains and breaches in barrages and embankments as the overall flood situation worsened yesterday.
An official in the state disaster management department said that the IAF helicopters started dropping food packets and other essential items to the marooned people in Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura and Araria districts.
"The air dropping of relief materials finally began a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took a decision to engage IAF helicopters following an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts on Wednesday," the official said.
Kumar reviewed the flood situation with top officials twice in the last two days. The government has also decided to deploy personnel of the National Disaster Management Force in the rescue operations.
"Nearly 60 personnel of National Disaster Management Force will reach Bihar in a day to join the rescue operations along with Special Auxiliary Police personnel in Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura and Araria districts, which are worst hit by the floods," said an official.
The government has also deputed two top federal service officers, two additional district magistrate rank officers and three deputy superintendents of police to oversee the relief and rescue operations.
Two days after a breach developed in the Kosi barrage upstream in neighbouring Nepal, the flood situation remained grim in some bordering districts of Bihar.
The state government has sounded red alert in districts that are considered to be flood prone.
"Floodwaters entered several villages in Forbesganj in Araria, Purnea and Supaul districts on Wednesday," an official said.
A breach developed on Tuesday in the Khairpur embankment in Bhagalpur forcing hundreds of people to flee.
Rivers cause havoc
The floods caused by heavy rains have swamped hundreds of villages in northern India, killing at least 114 people over the past one week, officials said.
Authorities said more than 650 villages were cut off in northern Uttar Pradesh state, as rivers broke through embankments, swamping villages and affecting nearly 1.5 million people.
Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state with about 170 million people, and is also one of the most flood-prone regions in the country. Hundreds die every year during the monsoon.
Many of the latest deaths in the state were caused by house collapses.
About 660 people have died during this monsoon season in Uttar Pradesh, Balwinder Kumar, a senior government official said yesterday.
"Incessant rains have continued to wreak havoc in the entire state during the current monsoon season," Kumar said.
At least 41 people were killed over the past two days, as rains lashed the state, destroying more than 2,500 homes and inundating croplands, Kumar said.
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