6 Sep :The Centre continues to extend all possible assistance to the Govt. of Bihar to deal with the flood situation. 37 Army columns with 37 Engineering Task Forces and 37 medical teams continue to be deployed for rescue and relief operations.
11 Air Force helicopters, 4 Army helicopters and 2 Advance Light Helicopters have been deployed to drop food packets and provide logistics support. The Navy has deployed 3 relief teams. With additional 30 boats, the total availability of boats/bauts organized by the Govt. of India will be 704. 792 NDRF personnel have been deployed.
1.25 lakh tons of food grains including 75,000 tons of rice and 50000 tons of wheat has been allocated. 8767 tents have already been dispatched. Additional 1300 tents are being organized by the FICCI which will be dispatched shortly. The Govt. of West Bengal has offered 50,000 plastic sheets for use in the relief camps. The Ministry of Steel has organized supply of 10 lakh GI sheets for construction of relief camps. 10 satellite phones have been provided.
3,95,320 bottles of drinking water have been delivered. Another 1,04,680 bottles are being sent. Three water purifying equipment having a capacity of 6000 litres per day have reached. Ten more water purifying sets have been sent by the Indian Red Cross Society.
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has organized the supply of 300 tons of different types of essential medicines viz. Chlorine tablets, Measles, vaccines, DPT, Oral Polio, TT, Vaccine logistics, etc. On the request of the State Government, 100 Fogging machines and 50 Ambulances are being organized.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has provided an additional 10,000 KL of kerosene oil for the affected areas. In addition, the Ministry of Petroleum will provide free LPG in the relief camps.
The Ministry of Water Resources has constituted a high level team to suggest remedial measures to the Govt. of Bihar for repair and strengthening of afflux bunds of the Kosi barrage and would coordinate with Nepal for early repairs. Six supervisory teams have been formed for day-to-day co-ordination among the State engineers, Ganga Flood Control Commission and the Indian Embassy, Kathmandu for smooth working at the breached section.
The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries has informed that 66 wagon-loads of dry fodder from Amritsar and Karnal to Saharsa have reached Bihar by rail. Additional 41 wagon-loads of fodder are being sent by the Government of Haryana to Purnia. An amount of Rs. 400 lakh has been released for procurement of vaccines for animals under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Assistance to States for Control of Animal Diseases’. A reserve team of veterinary doctors and auxiliary staff is being formed in consultation with other State Governments for deputation to the flood affected areas of Bihar at a short notice. 71 Veterinary centres have been set up with 44 veterinary doctors and 92 auxiliary staff to provide treatment to sick animals. On the request of the State Government, NDDB has arranged supply of a full rake of fodder pellets (1500 MT) from Khanna (Punjab) to Barauni (Bihar) which is likely to reach the destination by the 11th of this month.
The Ministry of Rural Development has decided to provide Rs.1600 crore under allocation-based programmes being implemented by the Ministry (ARWSP: Rs. 237 crore; Construction of Rural Roads under Bharat Nirman component: Rs.800 crore; Construction of Housing under Indira Awas Yojna: Rs.540 crore; SGSY: Rs.46 crore). The Ministry has assured the State Government of providing full assistance under NREGA as per its demand. The Ministry has also modified guidelines of various programmes to facilitate assistance to the flood-affected population. With regard to involvement of NGOs, CAPART has initiated action for providing drinking water and sanitation to the flood-affected population by implementing projects. It has also taken lead to organize and coordinate with NGOs for mobilizing the distribution of the relief in the affected areas.
Trains are running for evacuation of affected people on some sectors. The meter gauge sectors are Daura Madhepura – Saharsa; Narpat Gunj – Forbes Gunj; Purnia – Banmankhi – Bihari Gunj and Saharsa – Raghopur. The broad gauge sectors are Saharsa – Patna; Saharsa – Samastipur and Purnia – Katihar. Relief camps have been set up by railways at Raghopur, Banmankhi, Madhepura, Narpat Gunj and Budhma.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) headed by the Union Home Secretary, Shri Madhukar Gupta reviewed the progress of rescue and relief operations yesterday.