Heavy rainfall and floods in Bihar and North East India have claimed over 40 lives in the last few days. Nearly 69.3 lakh residents have been affected due to the deluge and thousands of villages have been marooned, Hindustan Times reported.

In north Bihar, 12 districts, including Araria, Sitamarhi and Kishanganj, were flooded along with some districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh, as rivers originating from Nepal have been overflowing due to heavy rainfall there. At least 24 people have died in Bihar due to different flood-related incidents in Bihar, PTI reported. As many as 67 people have died in Nepal.

Continuous showers in China and Bhutan have flooded the rivers in Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. “Heavy to very heavy rainfall is predicted for the next five days in north-east and northern Bihar,” the India Meteorological Department said in a statement, according to Hindustan Times.

The Central Water Commission has predicted that the flood situation is likely to get worse in 51 of the 350 locations across the country that are monitored by the agency. Most of the areas are located in the North East, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The daily bulletin of Bihar’s Water Resources Department said that five rivers – Bagmati, Kamla Balan, Lalbakeya, Adhwara and Mahananda – were flowing above the danger level at several places in the state. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar carried out aerial surveys of the flood-hit areas of the Kosi region on Monday. Opposition leaders staged demonstrations in the state legislature, accusing the government of failing to protect embankments and conduct sufficient rescue operations.

In Assam, 30 of the state’s 33 districts have been affected and 15 residents have died due to the floods. Rhinoceros habitats in the Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and the Manas National Park have been under water, PTI reported. The Brahmaputra has risen above the danger level. Five people have been reportedly killed in Mizoram.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal about the situation in the state on Monday. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said that nearly 42.87 lakh residents in 4,157 villages were dealing with the impact of the floods, which have submerged 1,53,211 hectares of farms.

Nearly 196 relief camps have been set up in the flood-hit areas and 644 community kitchens have been operating to provide food to those in the shelter. About 26 contingents of security personnel from the State Disaster Response Fund, National Disaster Response Fund and the Seema Sashastra Bal have been carrying out rescue operations.