Six killed in Bihar due to heavy rains

Patna : At least six people, among them two children, were killed in Bihar when their houses collapsed due to heavy rains and high speed winds under the effect of Cyclone Phailin, officials said Tuesday.

The two children died when their house collapsed after a tree fell on it in Vaishali district Sunday while an old man and a woman died in Madhepura district after their thatched house crashed on them, an official of disaster management department.

One person each died in Khagaria and Kaimur districts and unconfirmed reports said that four other people drowned in Purnea and Muzaffarpur districts.

Reports reaching here from different parts of state said that heavy rain continued Tuesday and the downpour was set to go on for another day.

“Normal life was badly affected in the state by the heavy rainfall under the effect of Cyclone Phailin since Sunday,” Vayasji, principal secretary of disaster management department, told IANS here.

He said the state has already put district authorities on a flood alert.

“The government Monday sounded a flood alert in the state in view of heavy rainfall since late Saturday night,” he said.

According to water resources development department officials, all major rivers, including the Ganga, Kosi and Gandak, are flowing above the danger mark at several places, posing serious threat to hundreds of thousands of people living in low-lying areas.

Officials in Patna said that bad weather severely hit Durga Puja celebrations and the burning of Ravana effigies in Patna was advanced from Monday to Sunday. It also delayed idols immersion in rivers.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Monday held a high-level meeting here to review preparation to deal with the flood threat and assess the situation.