Bihar likely to present over ₹10,000 cr demand to Centre to compensate flood damages

The first wave of flooding struck in the opening week of September, affecting over 50 lakh people across more than 2,000 villages in 15 districts of Bihar.

The Bihar government is preparing to place a demand of more than ₹10,000 crore before the Centre as compensation for the widespread damage caused by the recent floods to people, agriculture, and public infrastructure, a senior officer familiar with the assessment process said on Friday.

The first wave of flooding struck in the opening week of September, setting multiple highest flood levels (HFL) and affecting over 50 lakh people across more than 2,000 villages in 576 panchayats of 15 districts by the first week of October.

“The assessment of damages is in the final stages. We hope that the assessment will conclude next week and the final demand will be sent to the Centre soon after,” a principal secretary-rank officer said.

A senior official of the disaster management department (DMD), the nodal agency, said the process was delayed by a second wave that hit the north-western districts late and caused extensive damage to standing crops, infrastructure, school buildings, embankments and roads.

“Final assessment is waiting for the receding of water from the fields,” he added.

The agriculture department’s preliminary assessment has put crop losses at around ₹270 crore, covering roughly 1.7 lakh hectares across more than 100 blocks in 18 districts, with paddy, maize, vegetables and banana crops among the worst hit. Officials indicated the figure could rise further once water fully recedes and detailed field verification is completed; some estimates already point to losses exceeding ₹300 crore.

Under NDRF norms, eligible farmers stand to receive input subsidies ranging from ₹8,500 per hectare for unirrigated land to ₹17,000 per hectare for irrigated land, and up to ₹22,500 per hectare for perennial crops.

Major infrastructure devastation has been reported by the rural works department (RWD), water resources department (WRD), road construction department (RCD) and the education department. Over 4,000 government schools were submerged across the flood-hit districts, disrupting education for more than three lakh students; many buildings suffered severe structural damage, and some collapsed.

Roads, embankments and rural connectivity infrastructure have also taken a heavy toll.

"Rural roads have been damaged extensively, and it might take over ₹3,000 crore to restore them. Major district roads and state highways have also borne a heavy brunt of the floods," said the officer.

The DMD has so far transferred ₹579.23 crore as immediate ex-gratia assistance of ₹7,000 per family to 8,27,472 verified flood-affected households through direct benefit transfer. Community kitchens numbering over 1,200 have served more than 1.2 crore meals, while relief camps, dry ration packets, polythene sheets and cattle feed have been distributed on a large scale. The overall expenditure on compensation, relief measures, and community kitchens is estimated at around ₹2,000 crore, though the final consolidated figure is still being compiled.

A senior engineer of the WRD said that embankments on the river Gandak have been damaged at multiple locations.

“As the river has set new HFLs, embankments are required to be further strengthened with technical modification. The state has been facing floods due to the discharge in rivers originating from Nepal,” said the engineer, adding that an estimate for embankment reconstruction is also being prepared.

Union minister's assurance

A Central team led by Union agriculture and rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited various flood-affected areas on 16 September, along with chief minister Samrat Choudhary.

The Union minister conducted aerial surveys and ground inspections in districts including Patna, Saran, Vaishali, Munger and Bhagalpur, travelling by boat and tractor through inundated villages. He described the floods as among the most severe in years, with water levels exceeding those of 2016 in some areas, and assured full cooperation from the Centre to mitigate people's suffering and restore damaged infrastructure.

Opposition leaders also stepped up pressure on both the Centre and the state government.

Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has criticised the BJP-led “double-engine” governments for failing to deliver a permanent solution to Bihar’s annual flood crisis, asking what concrete change has been achieved on the ground in the last 17 years. He has called for lasting measures rather than repeated cycles of relief and assurances.