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Lalu to brief PM on Bihar floods

Taking stock: Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad making an aerial survey of the flood affected regions of North Bihar on Sunday.

PATNA: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday to urge him to visit the flood-affected areas in Bihar.

Mr. Prasad said he would brief Dr. Singh on the calamity and the failures of the State government which put the people of north Bihar to great suffering.

He said he had made available the services of the railways to carry food supplies and relief material free of cost.

After an aerial survey, Mr. Prasad described the situation as grave as several areas were still under 10 to 12 feet of water. Even the relief operation was only for name’s sake and whatever the helicopters were dropping was landing in the water.

He said that unlike during the RJD rule when the deadline for anti-flood operations was adhered to, the Nitish Kumar government had not reported the problem to the Centre; only after the embankment had given way was the Centre informed.

The floods affected the movement of trains and caused losses to the railways as well. Mr. Prasad said the railways would provide help to 200 railway employees who were affected by the floods at different railway stations.

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Lalu to brief PM on Bihar floods

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