Bihar floods: Death toll rises to 304, 1.38 crore people still battling deluge in 18 districts

Patna: The death toll in Bihar floods has crossed the 300 mark with 51 people losing their lives since Sunday. The figure of flood fatalities stood at 253 till on Sunday. 1.38 crore people are battling the deluge in 18 districts of the state. [caption id=“attachment_3949771” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Around 7.34 lakh people have been shifted to safer areas. Close to 3.27 lakh people are putting up in 1,346 relief camps. Araria district accounted for 71 deaths alone with Sitamarhi (34), West Champaran (29), Katihar (26), Madhubani (22), East Champaran (19), Darbhanga (19), Madhepura (15), Supual (13), Kisanganj (11), Gopalganj (9), Purnea (9) Muzaffarpur (7), Khagaria (6), Saran (6) and Saharsa (4), Sheohar (4). Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a high-level ministerial meeting to take stock of the flood situation. Principal secretary in the Disaster Management Department Pratyay Amrit said food packets were being airdropped in the inundated areas on war footing. The chief minister ordered that damaged roads be restored at the earliest. Meanwhile, train services continued to be affected as floodwaters overtopped tracks. An East Central Railways (ECR) statement said train services have resumed on some sections under the Samastipur division with speed restriction. Chief Public Relations Officer of the ECR Rajesh Kumar said 11 trains have been cancelled for on Monday. These include 15549 Jaynagar-Patna Intercity Express, 25909 Link Express, 15211 Darbhanga-Amritsar Express and 15212 Amritsar-Darbhanga Express, he said.