Flood situation grim in Bihar, embankments breached in seven places

PATNA — Flood situation remained grim in more than a dozen districts of Bihar on Monday while reports of breaches in embankments from at least seven places across the state also kept the administration on its toes.

Flood water has reached fresh areas presenting the government with fresh challenges though there is nothing to panic about, Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said.

“Seven cases of breach in embankments” have been reported from across the state, large parts of which have been inundated after the release of over six lakh cusecs of water by adjoining Nepal, which has been lashed by torrential rains, he said.

Also read: Devastating floods turn villages into islands in North Bihar

“There have been no deaths so far. We must remember that the rainfall in Nepal has broken the record of 56 years,” the minister told reporters.

The affected districts in the state include West and East Champaran, Araria, Kishanganj, Gopalganj, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Siwan, Madhepura, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Saran and Saharsa.

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, officials of the state water resources department said.

The Gandak river’s embankment in West Champaran was damaged due to excessive water pressure, resulting in inundation in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve and surrounding areas, another official said.

No damage to wildlife has been reported so far.

In Sheohar district also, breach of embankment was reported in Tariyani block.

“Water is flowing above the embankments in at least seven places in the state on Sunday. This happened for the first time. The last two days were really very challenging for the officials of WRD. But they worked on a war footing to handle the situation,” said Chaudhary.

According to a statement issued by the state Disaster Management Department on Monday,

“Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the DMD, Pratyaya Amrit, along with other officials undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas of Darbhanga and Sitamarhi. Later, the ACS directed District Magistrates of both districts to take immediate steps for relief, rescue and rehabilitation in the newly affected areas”.

Now, officials are more alert as floodwaters have started receding in many areas and that may cause soil erosion, said the minister.

“Despite water levels receding in some rivers, the overall situation remained grim due to the deluge”, another official said.

Water levels of rivers like Kosi, Gandak, Bagmati, Kamla Balan and the Ganga are still flowing above the danger level in certain districts, he added.

Six more teams of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDRF) from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Ranchi in Jharkhand have already been deployed in the affected areas.

“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,” the DMD 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.

The minister also said as part of its flood mitigation measures, the Bihar government has now initiated the process of preparing detailed project reports for the construction of more barrages in East Champaran, West Champaran, Sitamarhi, Kishanganj, Madhubani and Supaul districts.

The Central government recently announced financial support of Rs 11,500 crore for Bihar to deal with flood-related issues that are an annual phenomenon for Bihar, the NDA government in the state has initiated the process, said Chaudhary.

“The state government has taken several measures to rejuvenate and revive dying rivers. But this has to be done in a coordinated manner by the Centre as well as other states. I must say that silt deposits in rivers slow down the water flow, posing a big challenge to the existence of certain rivers. The Centre should formulate the national silt management policy at the earliest, as it will help the state in taking up silt removal work from the Ganga, other rivers and lakes”.