Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar undertook an aerial survey on Tuesday to take stock of the deluge brought by the Ganga, Kosi, Gandak and Bagmati rivers as swirling floodwaters breached several embankments and spread further in different districts of the state. He asked the officials to call in the air force to help tackle the situation.

“Take the help of the air force to airdrop food packets and relief material in the areas where disaster response teams are finding it difficult to reach. The rescue and relief work should be conducted on a war footing,” Nitish told his officials.

Around 12 lakh people in 16 districts — East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Supaul, Siwan, Purnea, Araria, Kishanganj, Madhepura, Saharsa, Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Darbhanga — have been affected in the deluge brought by the Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati, Mahananda and other rivers in north Bihar since Saturday. These rivers witnessed unprecedented flow of water after very heavy rainfall in Nepal.

Scenes of immense hardships being faced by the people in the flooded areas unfolded as they clutched whatever belongings they could carry and waded through waist to chest-deep water to reach higher ground.

Another 10 lakh people were affected by the floods brought by the Ganga in September in the 13 districts along it in the state. The situation is expected to worsen again as the mighty river has again crossed the danger level in the state as excess water from the Gandak, Kosi and other rivers flowed into it.

Giving further directions, the chief minister asserted that the water resources department should stay alert and monitor the situation, while the concerned district magistrates should keep a constant vigil in the affected areas within their jurisdiction.

The chief minister asked the officials to pay attention to the people who have taken refuge on embankments in the inundated areas and arrange for adequate electric lights and temporary toilets for them.

Kumar also told the officials to make full arrangements of boats, polythene sheets, availability of relief material and its distribution, medicines, sanitation, cattle feed, relief camps, community kitchens and dry food packets among other things in the flood-affected areas.

Fifteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force each have been deployed to rescue the marooned people. The government has also sought three teams of the NDRF from Varanasi and Ranchi.

At least 60,000 people are staying in flood relief camps, while 127 community kitchens are operating near the affected areas. Over 800 boats are being plied to help the people reach the safer areas.

Agriculture minister Mangal Pandey said the “preliminary estimates suggest that around 2.25 lakh hectares of various crops, including paddy, have been affected in the deluge. Of these, the damage to crops could be over 33 per cent on 92,000 hectares”.

He chaired a meeting with his officials and directed them to assess the damage to crops due to the floods in a week. He added that the agriculture department was considering all options for the affected farmers, including compensation, short-duration seeds, and pesticides to protect the crops from various diseases in the wake of the deluge.