Bihar rain: Limping back to normal

Life was fast limping back to normal after water, accumulated on the main streets of the state capital, was drained out on Sunday.

Patna was in ‘deep waters’ since September 27 after there was an unprecedented 320 mm rainfall in 48 hours thereby inundating most of the localities here.

The worst-affected area Rajendra Nagar presented a pitiable scene when a judge of the Patna High Court was seen carrying his octogenarian father (a retired supreme Court judge) wading through waist-deep water.

Incidentally, the High Court judge, Justice Sudhir Singh, was part of the High Court bench that had given a series of directives to the Patna Municipal Corporation for cleaning the drains and avoiding waterlogging in the state capital way back in 2015.

His father Justice N P Singh, who was Acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court before being elevated as a Supreme Court judge, was rescued personally by his son after remaining in the submerged area for three days.

Earlier, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi and his family members too were rescued by SDRF (State disaster response force) personnel on a boat in Rajendra Nagar.

However, on Sunday, as water receded, devotees took to streets and visited several puja pandals on the occasion of Durga Puja.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joined those who paid obeisance to Goddess Durga at Dak Bungalow roundabout. Nitish also visited Sitla Mata Mandir and Patan Devi Mandir at Patna City.

Though people here remain in high spirits during the 10-day Dussehra, the festive fervour, however, has been missing this year due to flood-like situation in the state capital in the last one week.

Of all the leaders and politicians, it was only former MP, Pappu Yadav, who, for the seventh consecutive day, continued to provide relief materials including mineral water, milk and food packets among those marooned in Patna.

He has also organised medical camps here for those afflicted with water-borne diseases.