Patna, Sep 14: A central team led by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will visit Bihar on September 16 to assess the flood situation and evaluate damage to crops, houses and infrastructure, Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said on Monday.
The visit comes as floods have affected more than 49.36 lakh people across 88 blocks in 15 districts of the state, according to the Bihar Disaster Management Department.
The affected districts are Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Buxar, Samastipur, Munger, Katihar, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Purnea, Arwal and Madhepura.
Choudhary said Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the formation of the central team on Sunday and Union Home Minister Amit Shah subsequently informed him that Chouhan would lead the assessment team.
“Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has given the direction to form a team and today I spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji, who told me that a central team in the leadership of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will visit Bihar on September 16, 2026,” Choudhary said during a Hindi Diwas programme in Patna.
The team will assess damage to “crops, houses and other infrastructure”, he said.
Choudhary thanked Modi for initiating the assessment process, saying, “I want to thank Prime Minister for thinking about Bihar despite remaining busy in BRICS summit.”
The chief minister said the state government was also working on long-term measures to address recurring floods, including river conservation, water management and flood control.
“Bihar’s rivers form a vital foundation for the State’s life and economy; therefore, they must be both interlinked and preserved,” he said.
“Work is being carried out with a long-term perspective regarding the conservation of the river system, water management, and flood control,” Choudhary said, adding that the government aims to minimise loss of life and property while finding a permanent and effective solution to the problem.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav stepped up his criticism of the Centre over its response to the flood situation, alleging that Bihar had not received adequate assistance.
Yadav said he had written to Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Choudhary seeking compensation and a special economic package but had received no response.
He also compared the Centre’s response to the situation in Bihar with its handling of rain and flood-related incidents in Gujarat, alleging that the central government had acted more swiftly there.
“Why such discrimination against our Bihar?” Yadav said in a post on X.
“In Gujarat, the central government springs into action even for rain, not floods, but in Bihar, even with hundreds dying and over 45 lakh Biharis affected, there is no commotion,” he alleged.
Yadav claimed that more than 50 people had died, thousands of livestock were missing and damage worth thousands of crores had been caused in Bihar.
The central team’s visit is expected to provide an assessment of the scale of damage and help determine the requirements for relief and rehabilitation as the state continues to deal with the flood situation.
On Hindi Diwas, Choudhary also urged people to use Hindi more extensively in their daily lives and announced that a two-day Hindi Sahitya Samagam would be organised in Bihar to promote the language’s literary and cultural reach.
