PATNA: The flood situation in Bihar worsened on Monday after the embankments of the Kosi river in Darbhanga and the Bagmati river in Sitamarhi were breached, affecting over 1.6 million people.
While the Kosi breached its embankment near Kartarpur block, inundating the Kiratpur and Ghanshyampur villages in Darbhanga late Sunday night, a seepage was reported in the embankment of the Bagmati in Sitamarhi district.
State water resources minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said that six embankment breaches had been reported across the state so far. Some embankment breaches had already been plugged, and efforts were underway to repair others.
Excessive water pressure also damaged the embankments of the Bagmati river at Madhkaul village in Sitamarhi and the embankment of the Gandak river in West Champaran. According to officials, his resulted in the inundation of areas in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve.
Meanwhile, the water discharge from the Valmikinagar and Birpur barrages across the Gandak and Kosi rivers, respectively, reduced in the morning after the torrential rains in Nepal subsided.
Senior BJP leader and deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary met Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil and handed him a memorandum seeking a proper solution to the threat of floods in Bihar to prevent the loss of life and property.
“The matter of construction of a new dam (barrage) on the Kosi river within the Indian border, away from Nepal, was also raised with the Union Minister as he agreed to take immediate action,” Choudhary told the media.
As per reports, flood water is flowing above embankments in Valmikinagar and Kiratpur in Darbhanga. No casualties have been reported so far due to the floods, the sources added.
The Bihar government has sounded an alert across northern, southern, and central parts of the state following heavy water discharges from the Birpur and Valmikinagar barrages over the weekend.
In view of the flood situation turning serious, six additional National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams from Varanasi and Ranchi are being deployed, supplementing the 12 NDRF and 22 SDRF teams already engaged in rescue efforts.
India issues advisory for its citizens in Nepal
India issues advisory in Nepal in the wake of floods that have caused devastation. It is working in coordination with Nepalese authorities to help any Indians that may be stranded in the deluge. According to reports from Nepal nearly 200 people have died and 30 are missing