Flood alert issued in 13 districts of Bihar after barrage releases water

Flood alert issued in 13 districts of Bihar after barrage releases water

The Bihar government has issued flood alerts for swollen rivers including the Kosi, Gandak and Ganga in northern and central parts of the state after water was released from the Valmiki Nagar and Birpur barrages on Saturday, a senior official said.

The development is likely to aggravate the situation of more than 16.28 million people in 13 districts, who are already affected by flooding due to heavy rains.

Nepal’s Water Resources Department (WRD) said in a statement that “due to heavy rains in Nepal, the water discharge in Gandak, Kosi, Mahananda and other rivers increased significantly on Saturday.”

Santosh Kumar Mall, principal secretary of the state water resources department, said a total of 5.79 lakh cusecs of water was released from the Birpur barrage on the Kosi river as of 7 pm, the highest level in 56 years.

He told PTI that all safety measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the embankment. The last maximum water discharge from the barrage was 788,000 cubic feet in 1968.

Similarly, 5.38 lakh cusec of water was released from Valmikinagar barrage till 7 pm. This is the highest water release from the barrage since 2003 when 639,000 cubic meters of water was released. Traffic movement near Kosi barrage has been stopped as a precautionary measure.

ALSO READ  Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accuses Savarkar, Golwalkar of opposing constitution

“WRD teams are monitoring the embankment 24/7 so that immediate action can be taken if any erosion or danger is detected,” the official said.

Team members include 3 WRD chief engineers, 17 executive engineers, 25 assistant engineers, and 45 junior engineers.

“Due to the incessant rains in the past two to three days, the Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati, Burshi Gandak, Kamlabalan, Mahananda and Ganga rivers have The water level keeps rising.

“Continuing rainfall in Nepal’s river basins has caused water levels in many rivers in border areas to reach or exceed dangerous levels,” the senior official said.

He added that as of 7 pm on Saturday, Nepali authorities had released 5.40 lakh cubic feet of water from its side to the Gandak barrage and 4.999 lakh cubic feet to the Kosi barrage.

Officials said that after the massive release of water from the two barrages, excess river water entered West and East Champaran, Gopalganj, Araria, Supaul, Katihar, Punea and other states. low-lying areas in the region.

ALSO READ  Gujarat BJP MP accused of rape, intimidation after high court directive

Alerts have been sounded in several districts of Bihar as the IMD forecast heavy rains and warned of risk of flash floods in parts of the state.

An advisory issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday said that West and East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Sivan, Saran, Vaisha Districts such as Lee, Patna, Jehanabad, Madhubani and Bhojpur are likely to receive heavy rains.

“These areas are at risk of low to moderate flash flooding,” the report said.

Water enters a government hospital after heavy rains in Gopalganj.

The state disaster management department has asked districts to remain vigilant and take precautionary measures based on the forecast.

About 13 districts along the Ganges, including Buxar, Bhojpur, Saran, Patna, Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger and Bhagalpur, have experienced flood-like conditions, Nearly 1.35 million people living in low-lying areas have been affected by the floods. Officials said river levels were rising after heavy rains.

ALSO READ  Chief Minister reiterates commitment to ensure balanced development in all districts of Jammu region

A large number of people in the affected areas have been evacuated and sent to relief camps, they said.

As of 8.30 am on Saturday, 780.3 mm of rainfall had been recorded in different parts of the state.

Farmers in north Bihar are reeling from unexpected late-season floods that have damaged thousands of acres of kharif crops, including paddy, makana and vegetables.

Farmers may face difficulties as floods damaged seeds on 1.05 acres of Bihar Agricultural University in Bhagalpur. Scientists are preparing farmers with high-quality seeds for next season’s various crops. University vice-chancellor DR Singh said it had been completely destroyed.

Meanwhile, Dr Sanjeev Kumar (Head, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, AIIMS Patna) said a free health camp was organized to provide medical facilities to the flood-affected people in the state capital near JP Setu.

Kumar said there is a team of experienced doctors and medical staff there.

Join WhatsApp

Join Now

Leave a Comment