Kumar said from Saturday two Air Force helicopters will drop food packets in the worst affected Darbhanga district. Apart from six senior IAS officers, who have been deputed as special District Magistrates in the flood-hit districts, seven ministers will also be sent to monitor the relief and rescue operations in the areas.

Meanwhile, official death toll has now reached 57 and over 1 crore people have been affected. Though it was clear that the administrative machinery was put into action only after the Chief Minister's arrival from Mauritius, Kumar defended his Government by saying that continuous rains had hampered relief and rescue operations. "The entire machinery was active even in my absence. But there were practical difficulties due to incessant rains," he said.

The CM acknowledged that there was shortage of some essential relief materials, particularly polythene sheets. He said help has been sought from other states. "We have placed orders for polythene sheets. It will take a couple of days to reach. But we are tapping other sources also," he said.

When asked about seeking help from the Centre, Kumar said this will be done only after assessing the damage and preparing a memorandum. He said there has been a huge damage to crops and he wanted the Centre to extend help to the farmers.