Patna, Aug 2 - Thousands of people have been rendered homeless in Bihar's Sitamarhi district after the Bagmati river breached its embankment, flooding nearly 200 villages.

Those stranded in villages are living under the open skies without food and drinking water, waiting to be rescued.

'We are hungry and our children are crying for food and milk, but nothing has been provided by the government though it is over 24 hours since the Bagmati river breached its embankment,' Narayain Singh, one of the thousands of villagers taking shelter on embankments, told IANS via his mobile phone, which he feares might run out of charge soon.

'Till now, we have not been given any relief. We are without food and water,' said Shyam Singh, another villager.

The swollen river breached over a 100-feet stretch of the embankment at Tilaktajpur under Runnisaidpur block in Sitamarhi Saturday, inundating several villages and affecting over 100,000 people. More villages are likely to be flooded, a district official said.

According to officials, a team of the National Disaster Response Force began rescue operations Sunday morning. They had reached Saturday night but couldn't begin rescue work in the dark.

At least half a dozen people were feared drowned but district officials confirmed that only a woman had been killed.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to visit the breach site and take stock of the situation later Sunday.

Till Friday, the district administration and engineers had claimed that there was no threat to the embankment from the rising level of water in the Bagmati river.