Bihar govt on alert, seeks army help over Kosi flood threat

With the danger of flood looming large in the Kosi belt along Bihar-Nepal border, the state government has put its personnel on alert, ordered evacuation of people inhabiting the embankment area and also sought help from the Army.
Bihar Disaster Management Department (DMD) principal secretary Vyasji said the state government has put its personnel on alert and instructed the affected districts to make arrangements to evacuate 1.5 lakh people in eight districts along the Kosi as 10-metre high wave of water is expected to sweep down the Kosi River through Nepal.
He said the state government has also sought the help of the army.

The Central government, Vyasji said, has dispatched seven additional companies of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Kolkata to help its eight companies deployed in Supaul, Madhepura and Saharsa districts.
"We have sent our own team of engineers and officials to the site where Bhote Kosi, a major tributary of Kosi River has been blocked due to an enormous landslide last night, damming the river and resulting in a massive accumulation of water. The team will immediately inform us when the Nepal Army blasts the debris to free the river," said Vyasji.
The landslide and ensuing damming of Bhote Kosi has occurred at a place called Jure in Sindhupalchok district in Nepal. It is located north of Kathmandu and around 260 km from the Bihar-Nepal border.

"The Central Water Commission (CWC) estimates tell that 14 lakh cusec water has accumulated at the landslide site, while the Indian Embassy in Nepal has informed our National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) about the accumulation of 25 lakh cusec water there. In both cases it is a huge amount of water," said Vyasji.

"We are requesting the Nepal government to drill holes instead of blasting the debris. It will ease the flow instead of creating a flash flood like condition," added Vyasji.
The DMD Principal secretary said experts estimate that 40 per cent of the water that will gush down the Kosi and will reach Bihar. He also said that the calculation says that the water will take around 14 hours to hit the state.

"We have ordered that the gates of Birpur barrage to be kept open to deal with the sudden rise in water level of Kosi. The capacity of this barrage is 8 lakh cusec," he added.