No rain mercy in eastern India, flood toll now 59

DELHI/GUWAHATI/BHOPAL: The flood situation aggravated in Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and West Bengal on Saturday with the toll reaching 32 even as another 27 people died in lightning strikes in Odisha.
Assam was the worst affected with 27 killed even as home minister Rajnath Singh made an aerial survey of the state’s flood-hit districts. “Over 30 lakh people and 28 districts have been affected.The problem is enormous,” said Singh, who was accompanied by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The minister also announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the flood victims. “Just declaring floods a national problem is not the solution. The need of the hour is to find out what measures can prevent such a calamity,” he added.
Three deaths were reported from lower and central Assam , in the downstream region of the Brahmaputra. With no rain in the past 24 hours, the situation in upper Assam improved on Saturday. Floodwaters receded from parts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Jorhat and Lakhimpur districts.
Around 400 relief camps and 102 highland shelters, housing more than 2.40 lakh people, were in operation on Saturday. Over 1.95 lakh hectares of crop area is still under water, mostly in Morigaon district in central Assam and Barpeta in lower Assam.
Among the downstream districts, Darrang is the worst hit with 1.85 lakh people affected as of Saturday. More than three lakh have been affected in the western districts of Goalpara and Bongaigaon. Meanwhile, a rhino, which escaped the floods at Kaziranga National Park and took shelter on a highland outside the protected area, succumbed to bullet injuries on Saturday after it was accidentally shot at by forest guards in self-defence on Friday.
In Meghalaya, about three people were killed and two went missing as flood waters submerged the West Garo Hills district on Saturday, an official said.
In Bihar, many rivers were flowing above danger level as floods continued to wreak havoc, affecting 26.19 lakh people. Two more districts, East Champaran and Muzaffarpur, were declared flood-hit on Saturday. An official said two minor girls were swept away by the waters of Burhidangi river in Kishanganj district and their bodies were fished out with help of NDRF personnel.
In Odisha , eight deaths were reported from Bhadrak, seven in Balasore, five in Khurda, three in Mayurbhanj and one each in Kendrapara, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Nayagarh. More than a lakh people were affected in Madhya Pradesh with traffic coming to a standstill at many places. Two culverts were washed away in Chhatarpur district due to incessant rains.
Weather office issued a warning of heavy rainfall in Bhind, Morena, Datia and parts of Bundelkhand over the next 24 hours.