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A 70-year-old man was killed when his thatched hut collapsed due to heavy rains in the aftermath of Cyclone Phailin in Bihar's Madhepura district. The incident occurred when the deceased, Srilal Yadav, was sleeping on Sunday night in his thatched hut at Mathahi village in Madhepura district, which collapsed due to incessant rains and he was trapped under the debris, the police said.
The moderate rains which began on Sunday picked up throughout the day lashing almost all districts in the state. The situation is likely to worsen as the weather office predicted heavy deluge in north and south Bihar districts in the next 24 hours.
Heavy rainfall and high-speed winds have badly affected normal life in Bihar in last 24 hours because of cyclonic storm Phailin impact of cyclonic storm. "Heavier rains are expected in Bihar in next 24 hours,” a met department official said.
"Bad weather affected Durga Puja celebrations in patna, with ‘Ravan Dahan’ shifted to Sunday instead of Monday. At several places, puja pandals collapsed due to heavy rainfall and high-speed winds, "a police official in Patna said.
An official from the disaster management department said that the government had also sounded flood alert in the state in view of heavy rainfall since Saturday night.
“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday held a high-level meeting here to review preparation to deal with flood threat and take stock of the situation in all the districts and reviewed loss of property and life,” the official added.
The chief minister also held video-conferencing with the districts magistrates and police superintendents in this connection.
Earlier, the state government sounded a high alert in 28 flood-prone districts following a warning issued by the Indian Meteorological Department in the wake of cyclone storm Phailin that hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh over the weekend.
Director General, Meteorology, L S Rathore, has said a flood warning has been issued to Bihar in view of the cyclone. He warned that plains of Bihar and the catchment areas of Kosi and Gandhak rivers would receive heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours when the system moves to Nepal. All the major rivers of the state are flowing above the danger level, posing a threat to millions of people.
Officials said that the heavier rainfall catchment areas of rivers in Nepal may cause further flooding in the rivers originating from there. "It will cause havoc in over half a dozen districts of north Bihar if not more," the official added.
Photo courtesy: Reuters
With inputs from PTI