PATNA: Union government has stepped up measures to assist the Bihar government combat flood situation after release of excess rainwater from Valmiki Nagar and Birpur barrages in north Bihar following heavy rainfall in neighbouring Nepal.Union minister for home Nityanand Rai on Sunday said that if required, Airforce personnel will be engaged in evacuating people from flood affected areas to safer places in north Bihar. He said even food packets will be airdropped in largely affected villages, if need be.Talking to media persons after chairing a high-level meeting with senior officials, Rai said that that the central government was keeping a close watch on the flood situation in Bihar. “We are prepared to deal with the situation, which has worsened in some districts,” he added.At least nine teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in flood hit districts and more teams kept in reserve, which will be sent on the recommendation of the state government. The NDRF personnel are already on the job, he added.Additional chief secretary of state disaster management department Pratyaya Amrit chaired a meeting to assess the flood situation. The district magistrates of flood hit districts were asked to set up flood relief camps. Aggravates conditionThe discharge of excess water may aggravate the condition of over 16.28 lakh people in 13 districts, sources in the state disaster management department said, as several rivers were in spate.
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