Patna Floods: Orange Alert Ahead Of Heavy Rain Prediction; Nitish Now Blames Climate Change

Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday said that government is responsible for the deluge and it cannot shrug its responsibility in garb of terming it a "natural calamity".

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walks through a waterlogged area of Saidpur following heavy rains, in Patna, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. (PTI Photo) (PTI10_2_2019_000137B)

New Delhi: Patna and other flood-affected places, in Bihar, will remain on orange alert even on Thursday, ahead of heavy-rainfall prediction. While the rainfall ceased on Wednesday, the grave water-logging problems continued to trouble the residents. An Orange Alert has been issued for Patna, Vaishali, Begusarai, and Khagaria districts for October 3 and 4, as these areas are expected to receive heavy rainfall. At least 55 people have died in rain-related incidents in Bihar following torrential showers that took place between September 27 and 30, leading to a flood-like situation in many parts in the state including the capital Patna, officials said on Wednesday. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has rescued over ten thousand people from the state capital. The rescue teams have been rowing people across the flooded streets in inflated boats from the past few days. Five NDRF teams have been deployed in Patna's Rajendra Nagar and Kankarbagh alone to assist people amid the flood situation. Water had also entered the Kankarbagh Police Station. Indian Air Force helicopters have also been dropping relief material to the flood-affected areas. The situation led to a war of words between the ruling alliance partners, with the BJP blaming the Nitish Kumar government for poor crisis management and the chief minister's JD(U) accusing it of speaking the language of the opposition. Giriraj Singh blames government: Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday said that government is responsible for the deluge and it cannot shrug its responsibility in garb of terming it a "natural calamity". "I accept the failure, I am representative from Begusarai. Even in Patna, there are MLA and MP of BJP. People are not responsible for the flood but we are. We cannot shrug our responsibility from our failures saying that nature is responsible for it," said the Union Minister. CM  Nitish Kumar blames climate change for deluge: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday claimed that climate change has caused floods in Patna. "The change in climate has led to drought, sudden heavy rainfall and the present condition in Bihar. There were flash floods in 12-13 districts in July this year. Later, the water level in river Ganga rose. Now, sudden heavy rainfall has flooded many areas in Patna," the Chief Minister said at a programme here. He said climate change has affected several places across the world as well. Speaking to reporters after the event, he said the government is working to tackle the floods in the state capital and floodwaters will be pumped out soon. "The work is being done. The waters will be pumped out completely soon. We all are in trouble and everyone is doing their job. It's a situation of a calamity which has to be cured now. We will review it on a later stage," he said.