Floods in Bihar worsens as embankments of Kosi, Bagmati rivers breached

Flood situation in several parts of Bihar worsened on Monday as embankments of Kosi river in Darbhanga district and Bagmati river in Sitamarhi were breached, officials said.

The Kosi river was in spate and breached its embankment near Kartarpur block, inundating Kirtarpur and Ghanshyampur villages in Darbhanga late on Sunday, while seepage was reported in the embankment of Bagmati river in Runni Saidpur block in Sitamarhi district, they said.

"The flood situation has worsened with fresh embankment breaches but it is under control. There is nothing to panic," an official said.

The state water resources and disaster management departments have been working on a war footing, he said.

"Altogether six incidents of embankment breach have so far been reported from various parts of the state. Some of them have already been repaired and work is going on for others," Bihar Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary told PTI on Monday.

The embankment of the Bagmati River at Madhkaul village in Sitamarhi and the Gandak river's embankment in West Champaran were damaged due to excessive water pressure, resulting in inundation in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, another official said.

"Water flowing above the embankments was reported from Valmikinagar and Kiratpur in Darbhanga. But now the water level in several rivers started receding. No casualty has been reported so far in Bihar due to the flood", the minister said.

Considering the gravity of the flood situation in north Bihar, six more teams of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDRF) from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Ranchi in Jharkhand are being deployed, he said.

They are being engaged in addition to the existing 12 teams of NDRF and 22 of State Disaster Management Authority (SDRF) deployed in the relief and rescue operation in the flood-affected districts," said a bulletin issued by the disaster management department on Monday.

"Despite water levels receding in several small rivers, the overall situation remained grim with over 16 lakh people affected by the deluge. No fatality has been reported so far," another official said.

The Bihar government sounded an alert for floods in northern, southern and central parts of the state, following heavy discharge of water from Birpur and Valmikinagar barrages on Saturday and Sunday.

However, the water discharge from the Valmikinagar and Birpur barrages across the Gandak and Kosi rivers respectively reduced this morning, another official said.

The water discharge through Valmikinagar barrage was 5.62 lakh cusecs on Sunday, while the same was 1.89 lakh cusecs till 8 am on Monday, he said. Similarly, the water discharge from the Birpur barrage was 6.61 lakh cusecs on September 29, and the same was reduced to 2.88 lakh cusecs till 8 am on Monday, the official said.

Affected districts in the state include West and East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Ggopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Patna, Jehanabad, Madhubani, Araria, Purnea, Katihar and Bhojpur.