48.35 lakh people remain in Bihar's flood belt as the rivers start to fall

Over 48.35 lakh people were still counted as flood-affected in Bihar on Sunday even as most rivers began to drop, the Disaster Management Department said. The water sits across 575 gram panchayats in 87 blocks of 15 districts. A day earlier the department's figure was 48.22 lakh, up from 47.33 lakh on Friday evening. The rise in the count and the fall in the rivers can happen together. People remain cut off after the peak has passed.

Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai and Araria are the worst-hit. The full list also takes in Buxar, Samastipur, Munger, Katihar, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Purnia and Madhepura. The Ganga was above the danger mark at Digha, Gandhi Ghat, Hathidah, Bhagalpur, Kahalgaon and Munger. At Sultanganj in Bhagalpur it stood at 36.48 metres at 06:00 on Saturday, nearly two metres above the danger line, and was already easing. The Kosi was high at Baltar and Kursela, the Burhi Gandak at Khagaria, the Punpun at Sripalpur, the Bagmati at Benibad and the Ghaghra at Darauli and Gangpur Siswan.

Bihar has had 108.8 millimetres of rain so far in September, about 20 percent above the normal for the period. Catchment rain in Nepal has added to the load. The Water Resources Department warned of sudden bank erosion and told field officers to watch the weak stretches. That warning matters more than the headline count. A falling river can still take a village if a bank gives way overnight.

Relief is a set of round numbers. The department said 1,251 community kitchens and 13 relief camps were running, with space, food and medical cover arranged for about 12,260 people. Around 1,790 boats were in use. Ten National Disaster Response Force teams and 27 State Disaster Response Force teams were deployed. Authorities have distributed about 3.53 lakh polythene sheets, 59,500 dry-ration packets and 1,400 cooked-food packets. Those figures describe what has been issued, not what every household still needs.

Bihar floods on this scale are not a surprise. The Ganga and its northern tributaries leave the Himalaya steep and then slow across a flat, densely lived plain. Embankments shift the water rather than delete it. When Nepal's catchments are wet and Bihar's own rain is heavy in the same week, the gauges at Hathidah and Kursela move together. Sunday's news is that the needles have started down and that 48 lakh people are still living with the water that has not yet gone home.

The next useful number will not be a new peak. It will be how many panchayats leave the affected list as roads reopen and kitchens close. Until that list shortens, the state is running a relief operation that is large enough to count and still small against the number of people in the water's way.