Attachments
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the disaster
Multiple districts in the Indian states of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh experienced floods. The first wave of floods occurred in Assam on 24 June 2020. Subsequently there were heavy rains in the upper catchment of the three rivers (Brahamputra - Assam, KosiBihar and Ghaghra - Uttar Pradesh) resulting in floods and inundation of large areas. The flood magnitude increased in the later part of June and up to 23 July 2020, when a big flood affected 38 districts altogether in three states. The situation got aggravated and the National Society scaled up its response activities in Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Assam
In Assam, 30 districts were affected by the floods and they were as follows - Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Charaideo, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Barpeta, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Hojai, West Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Cachar, Kamrup (Metro) and Karbi Anglong. More than 5,664,499 people were affected in the state by the floods, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs Disaster Management Division (National Emergency Response Centre), situation report as on 23 July 2020.
Bihar
In Bihar, amid the worsening number of COVID-19 cases, thousands of people were forced to flee their thatch and brick homes as flood waters affected more than a hundred villages. The rising water levels of several rivers inundated many villages in a few days. Nearly 640,000 people were affected by the floods in Bihar by 27 July 2020, according to official data of the State Disaster Management Department. After heavy rains in the capital city Patna on 19 and 20 July 2020, a major part of the city was in the grip of water logging. According to an official report of the department,156 panchayats in 32 blocks in ten flood-prone districts of Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, East Champaran, West Champaran and Khagaria were affected by the floods. Approximately 17,762 people from inundated villages were evacuated to safer places and about 1,075 people stayed in five relief camps. A total of 29 community kitchens were running in flood affected areas.
Uttar Pradesh
In the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh, flooding was reported in the districts of Gorakhpur and Ballia, where the Ghaghara river was at a severe flood situation level, standing at 64.35 meters on 16 July 2020, where the danger level was 64.01 meters. In Gorakhpur, the Rapti river stood at 75.33 meters, above the danger mark of 74.96 meters. The State Disaster Management Authority of Uttar Pradesh reported that 111,781 people in the state got affected by flooding or heavy rains since the start of this year’s monsoon. The ten affected districts included Ayodhya, Gonda, Bahraich, Barabanki, Balrampur, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, SItapur, Mau and Mahrajganj. Two people lost their lives and 162 houses were damaged.