Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi's orders notwithstanding, water-logging situation in Patna further deteriorated on Sunday with no sign of recession in the water level but plenty of evidence of the impending epidemic as water in Rajendra Nagar and Kankarbagh turned grayish-black emitting a stench that would make a skunk appear attractive.
With more than 55 mm of rain recorded between last night and Sunday morning, residents in Kankarbagh and Rajendra Nagar were no better off today than a week ago despite a series of high-level meetings and ample lip services by the state officials and the local government body.
While a couple of boats were being seen transporting people from their homes to the market, overall misery index remained high among people living in the Kankarbagh, Rajendra Nagar, Kadam Kuan, Saidpur, Bahadurpur, Arya Kumar Road, Congress Maida, Lohanipur Sri Krishna Puri, Pataliputra Colony and other areas where water level, instead of going down, were running a few inches higher than before.
In yet another meeting on Sunday, District Magistrate Jitendra Kumar Sinha directed officials to keep a constant vigil on all sump houses to ensure they were functioning at their full capacity and power was provided to them without any interruption.
The DM also ordered spraying of bleaching powder and DDT in the affected areas though the residents denied having seen any such officials throughout the day.
While fire tenders were seen engaged in Kankarbagh area, reports said water also entered in the family house of the Deputy Chief Minister in Rajendra Nagar though this could not be confirmed from independent sources.
In a letter written to PatnaDaily.Com, Dr. Satyajit Sinha said the A. B. Eye Institute of Patna is setting up an eye camp to offer free advice and eye check-up to people affected by this year's flood. He also provided pictures of his friend, who was visiting Patna from Colorado, USA, leaving his house in nearly 3 ft water to get to the airport.
In the meantime, the administration issued an order closing of all schools until July 22 to prevent students from enduring rain-related miseries.
