Patna – According to officials, Bihar state now has an established mechanism to collect DNA samples from relatives of locals who have gone missing in the wake of last month’s floods in Nepal. The state’s Home Department has stated that families of missing persons in Bihar may submit DNA samples through local police stations or the district administration. Police and administrative authorities in different parts of the state have been ordered to provide every possible help to families who have been affected and to make sure that they understood everything about the mechanism for submitting samples.
According to the Home Department, the collected DNA samples will be subjected to processing at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) of Patna. As soon as the samples are processed, they will immediately be compared with the DNA extracted from the unidentified bodies and remains in Nepal.
The project was launched as a response to a major flash flood that occurred near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26. Subsequently, the Bhote Koshi river, which originates in the foot of the Himalayas, flooded and destroyed settlements, cars, roads, and bridges in a number of different cities of Nepal. A number of hydropower plants that are situated in the areas where flooding happened suffered in a significant way with many of them being seriously damaged during the activation of the process of nature.
Floods caused a great deal of people to go missing on both sides of the border. Some of the missing people were Indians who were in the region and who were traveling through this area as pilgrims. The process of recovery still continues. Director of Affairs in Nepal pointed out that only a part of the disappeared people has been found so far.
Bihar’s action coincides with the larger, unified Indian approach to the calamity. Previously, India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Embassy of India in Kathmandu declared that DNA profiling facilities would be open across the country for families of missing persons via a system of Central Forensic Science Laboratories, State Forensic Science Laboratories, the laboratories of the National Forensic Sciences University, and all other NABL accredited institutions fitted with DNA profiling facilities. Nepal Police have suggested using Autosomal STR DNA profiling, a common forensic method of pairing individuals biologically related to one another, as a way to ease identification. Other Indian states like Gujarat have followed suit and started to obtain samples of DNA from the families of missing residents. For the families still waiting for news regarding their relatives who are missing, the role of Bihar FSL serves as an additional scientific link in the cross-border efforts aimed at identifying victims affected by one of the worst natural disasters to hit the region recently.
Resources:
- https://www.ibc24.in/bihar/bihar-arrangements-made-for-dna-test-of-the-families-of-those-missing-in-nepal-tragedy-3757639.html
- https://organiser.org/2026/09/04/378668/bharat/nepal-floods-bharat-offers-dna-profiling-to-families-of-missing-persons-to-identify-remains/
- https://newscord.org/article/gujarat-collects-dna-samples-from-relatives-of-29-missing-after-nepal-flash-floo–Story_20260911_DNAmainhopeforidenti1cefe400
- https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/nepal-floods-bihar-dna-samples-missing-residents-identification-2995432-2026-09-15
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