Death toll rises to 540 in Bihar

The death toll in current spell of floods in 19 districts rose to 540 after 83 more deaths were reported from four districts of north Bihar.

The death toll in the current spell of floods in 19 districts of Bihar rose to 540 after 83 more deaths were reported from four flood-hit districts of north Bihar.

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Sixteen more deaths were reported from Darbhanga, 10 from Samastipur, 21 from Sheohar and 36 from Madhubani, official reports reaching from the districts said.

Of the 540 people who had perished, 314 hailed from the three worst-hit districts of Darbhanga, Samastipur and Sitamarhi.

While the number of deaths in Darbhanga has risen to 130, Samastipur reported 110 and Sitamarhi 74 casualties, official reports said.

Casualties have also been reported from Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, East Champaran, Khagaria, Begusarai, West Champaran, Madhepura, Saharsa, Sheohar, Purnia, Katihar and Supual districts.

A Sheohar report quoting district magistrate Navin Kumar Sinha said 177 villages in five blocks of the district still remained under flood water. Crops worth Rs 24.40 crore have been damaged so far.

Train services in seven sections of Samastipur division connecting Samastipur to Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and other places remained disrupted due to damage caused to tracks at different points. Repair work was on at a war-footing but it would take about 15 days for the traffic to resume on different sections, railway sources said.