Rain inundates most of Patna, elsewhere in Bihar

Patna, Sep 28 (UNI) Torrential rain for nearly three hours this morning crippled life in Patna and elsewhere in Bihar besides, inundating large areas.

The local Met office recorded 62.9 mm rainfall in Patna city since 0400 hours. All low lying areas in the capital went under knee to chest deep water marooning people in several localities. Rain water also entered most residences in the ground floor of several areas forcing people to look for safer places.

Water was knee high in several posh localities including, Patliputra Colony, Srikrishna Nagar, Rajendranagar, Kankarbagh, Frazer Road, Gandhi Colony and Boring Road in the past three days' rain.

Today's downpour added to the woes as water flooded the state Secretariat complex and the Raj Bhavan, forcing most employees and even ministers to stay away.

Most of the schools and colleges here declared yet another holiday today. Attendance in several government and private offices besides, financial institutions was thin, informed sources here said.

With most parts of the city and neighbourhood flooded, very few people ventured out. Bad road condition added to the problem.

Train services were severely affected as rain water had inundated tracks including, at the Patna junction. Most of the passengers and long distance trains were running several hours behind schedule.

As a result of the inclement weather for the past 72 hours the East Central Railway cancelled a number of long distance trains yesterday, including the Danapur-Howrah express, causing inconvenience to Kolkata bound passengers.

However, all airlines, including Indian, operated their services normally.

The inclement weather affected supply of essentials here and in other parts of Bihar for the past three days leading to a steep rise in prices.

The Met office said besides Patna, other areas which recorded considerable rainfall today were Muzaffarpur 116 mm, Balmikinagar 71 mm, Hayaghat 55.2 and Munger 55 mm. It predicted more rain during the next 24 hours.

Incidentally, 14 people had been killed and five injured in rain related accidents in Bihar this week.

UNI