A video of a driver escaping from a Mahindra Bolero - an SUV - to save his life when the vehicle got stuck in a gushing stream in Bihar is going viral on the social media. The video shows the car fully submerged in the Gandak river; the water level of the rive has risen suddenly due to unprecedented rainfall in the catchment area of neighbouring Nepal.
According to local reports, the villagers had asked the driver not to cross the river at a time when water level was high, but he did not listen to them. As the flow of water carries away the vehicle, the driver cries for help, according to the video. The locals then pull him out with the help of a rope.
Though the unprecedented rain has not led to any casualty or displacement of people on a big scale, West Champaran district, situated at the state's north-western tip, was the worst hit. The Collectorate building in Bettiah town and a camp of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) elsewhere in the district were inundated.
"Many parts of north Bihar and, more importantly, catchment areas of Nepal have received up to 250 mm of rainfall in the last 48 hours. This is unprecedented for this part of the year", Bihar water resources minister Sanjay Kumar Jha said, according to news agency PTI.
"We fear heavy rainfall in catchment areas of Nepal more than downpour in the state. The reason being heavy rainfall there causes discharge of massive quantity of water from the barrage. We take relief in weather reports that rainfall in Nepal is showing a receding trend", the minister added.
{{/usCountry}}"We fear heavy rainfall in catchment areas of Nepal more than downpour in the state. The reason being heavy rainfall there causes discharge of massive quantity of water from the barrage. We take relief in weather reports that rainfall in Nepal is showing a receding trend", the minister added.
{{/usCountry}}He, however, asserted that preparedness had been reviewed by chief minister Nitish Kumar himself and "all our embankments are secure".
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts that most parts of Bihar would receive medium to heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours. It also sounded an alert over the "vulnerability to lightning strikes" at ponds, orchards and water-logged areas.