Flooding in Bihar: pregnant woman on raft taken to Darbhanga health center
A pregnant woman had to be taken to the nearest government health center for delivery on a makeshift raft in Darbhanga district, Bihar district, affected by flooding today. Neighbors waded up to their necks in the water and pushed the raft made of wooden planks and rubber tires. The woman’s mother, can be seen in the photos, holding her daughter as the raft swayed as it was pulled.
Shortly after the news reached the Magistrate’s Office in Darbhanga, a State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) boat was dispatched for the women and her family.
Darbhanga is one of the most flood-affected districts in Bihar, which suffers severe flooding this year and not even half of the monsoon season is over. Most of the rivers in the region, including the Baghmati, Mahananda and Khiroi rivers, flow over the danger zone in the districts of Dhenga, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Hayaghat and Darbhanga, according to a bulletin from the water resources department. .
SDRF boat brought pregnant woman and her family to safety
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday called on disaster management department officials and district magistrates to be vigilant of heavy rains in the watersheds of the Gandak River, which originates in Nepal.
The flood situation could worsen in the districts of Champaran West, Champaran East, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and Saran if it rains more in the Gandak watershed, a government official said.
National and state disaster relief teams have been deployed to many districts to move people to higher ground. Officials, however, said the dikes on local rivers were safe.
Bihar and Assam are battling the double disaster of flooding and COVID-19, with the number of positive cases increasing every day.
