NEW DELHI: The fury of Kosi, which struck east Bihar with a vengeance last Monday, may trigger one of the world's biggest human evacuations ever. The exodus should continue over the next several weeks with the scared population spread over six districts finally veering round to timely escape as the only option. ( Watch )

By now, almost one lakh marooned people have moved to safe highlands, bulk of them by government boats and many on their own. The reluctant trickle is now taking the shape of a torrent after an emotional appeal by chief minister Nitish Kumar, urging people to cut their losses and leave with their cattle. ( Watch )

At the time of reporting, over 10,000 people had beseeched the administration officials in Madhepura to take them to safety — a reversal of sorts since 24 hours ago, all the nudging could not make them leave their "ghar".

More such scenes could be witnessed in the next 48 hours if heavy rain, as forecast by the Met office, pelts the area, adding to the huge volumes of water gushing down from Nepal towards the plains of the ill-fated Bihar districts.

The deluge has, at any rate, presented a gigantic task of moving over 20 lakh people to protected zones. By Friday, the government expects to deploy 900 boats — motorised and manual — for evacuation work.

At an average of 100 people per boat, the daily shift could shoot to 90,000. The number of people voluntarily finding their way to safety will also continue to rise because they are slowly realizing that the worst of the Kosi crisis may not yet be over.