PATNA: Amid mounting political pressure and widespread devastation from the floods, a team led by Union agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday began a two-day assessment of the damage, touring inundated villages alongside state chief minister Samrat Choudhary.
The visit, ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, comes even as the state is grappling with a dual crisis of floods in several districts triggered by swollen rivers and upstream discharge, alongside drought-like conditions in many others due to acute rainfall paucity.
The Central minister assured residents that the Centre would stand with the state government. He emphasised that both the Centre and the state remain fully committed to relief and rehabilitation. Chouhan described the flooding in the area as the most severe in years, noting that water levels this time exceeded those of 2016 by about a foot. Nearly 50 lakh people across the state have been forced to leave their homes, he said, with significant losses to crops, houses and livestock. CM Choudhary, who thanked the PM for dispatching the Central team, said the state government has already begun releasing an interim grant of ₹ 7,000 per affected family.
“We will provide every possible assistance to Bihar,” he said, adding that specialised teams from the agriculture and rural development ministries are already assessing the losses and that another Central team would follow. Full compensation for farmers and other victims will be paid according to rules once a precise assessment is complete.
The central team began its tour after leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav repeatedly demanded a Central team’s inspection, declaration of the floods as a national disaster and a special relief package of ₹ 5,000 crore.
Yadav had written to the Prime Minister and publicly criticised the Centre for what he called an inadequate response, drawing contrasts with earlier flood assistance to other states.
Chouhan described the flooding as among the most severe in years, with water levels exceeding those of 2016 by about a foot, and assured that the Centre would provide every possible assistance. CM Choudhary thanked the PM for the team and said the state has begun releasing an interim grant of ₹ 7,000 per affected family, with full compensation for farmers and others to follow precise assessment. Chouhan and Choudhary began with an aerial survey of flood-hit stretches in Maner (Patna) and Dighwara (Saran). They later inspected ground conditions in Terasia and Saraipur villages of Raghopur block in Vaishali — Tejashwi Yadav’s home constituency — travelling by boat and tractor through waterlogged fields to examine submerged banana and maize crops, damaged houses and roads, and speak with affected villagers seeking compensation and stronger embankments. Specialised teams from the agriculture and rural development ministries are already assessing losses, with another Central team to follow. The two-day programme is expected to cover additional districts including Munger and Bhagalpur. Agriculture officials have started evaluating crop damages both in flood-affected catchment areas of the Ganga, Gandak and Kosi and in deficit-rain districts, while also disbursing diesel subsidy for irrigation to protect standing paddy. Water levels in major rivers have begun receding in several places, though the Kosi remains in spate. Community kitchens, health facilities and boat transport continue operating, with officials noting the erratic monsoon pattern has compounded farmers’ woes across the state. The Central team’s two-day programme is expected to cover additional districts, including Munger and Bhagalpur, before a formal review of the overall damage and relief efforts. For Bihar’s flood-prone regions, the visit marks a critical moment of political scrutiny and administrative response after weeks of rising waters and growing demands for substantial Central support.
