2024 Jivitputrika tragedy
On September 26, 2024, at least 46 people, including 37 children and 7 women, died in Bihar, India, as floods and heavy rain turned rivers and other water bodies dangerous during the Jivitputrika festival. Drownings happened across 15 districts where people entered flooded waters outside of the designated festival sites (ghats).
Jivitputrika is a three-day Hindu festival where mothers fast for their sons and then go to water bodies to bathe, place branches and garlands on their sons’ necks. In 2024, monsoon rains caused major flooding across parts of India, swelling rivers such as Kopili, Barak, and Kushiyara and displacing hundreds of thousands.
The Bihar government announced compensation of 400,000 rupees to the families of each victim. Officials urged people to use only state-designated ghats and to avoid dangerous water levels, while critics said more crowd control and staff were needed at all ghats to prevent tragedies.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:30 (CET).