Nitish Kumar fumes over questions asked on Bihar floods

New Delhi : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was posted with steep questions from the residents, battered by the floods, as he paid a survey visit to the place. Filled in anger he lashed out at the journalists present at the site.

"I am asking in how many parts of the country and across the world, have there been floods? Is water in some parts of Patna the only problem we have? What happened in America?" he said.

Tagging it as natural calamity, he said floods and droughts are the realities we need to accept.

"Relief work is underway. Several arrangements are being made for pumping out the flood water," he said, after his survey.

More than 36 hours have passed when the rain stopped but a major section of Patna and the nearby areas are still submerged with thousands of the residents left without electricity and drinkable water. Officials said disruptions in electricity supply and the unavailability of enough high-powered pumps were to blame for the crisis.

According to the reports at least 42 people have lost their lives in the rain-related incidents.

"More than 200 of our personnel are involved in round the clock operations and we have rescued more than 3,000 people in the last three days, including 12 pregnant women and 323 others in need of medical attention," Commandant of NDRF 9th battalion Vijay Sinha told news agency PTI.