The month August ends with a sad note – devastation due to floods in Bihar. The situation compelled the Union government to declare it a national calamity. According to meteorological data, the state had 59% deficient rainfall in the week ended August 27. The situation changed thereafter, with the flood affected state receiving continual rainfall, which is hampering relief operations.
The current situation in Bihar is largely due to rainfall in Nepal and the foothills of the Himalayas and flooding in the upstream of the transboundary river Kosi. As per reports received by the National Disaster Management Division, on August 18, a long embankment was swept away at Kushaha in Nepal, about 7 km away from the Kosi barrage at Birpur in Supaul. As a result, the river Kosi changed its course and shifted over 120 km eastwards and large parts of Supaul, Madhepura, Araria, Saharsa and Katihar were inundated, causing huge damage to life and property.
Apart from crop loss and livestock death, 2,27,969 houses were damaged as per reports received from the Bihar government on August 28. The Union government has announced a relief assistance of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) and has released 1,25,000 of foodgrains from the central pool. The army, air force and the railways have been deployed in relief operations As the axis of the monsoon trough continues to run close to the foothills of the
Himalayas, the numerical weather prediction models used by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) suggest that the monsoon trough may continue to run close to the foothills of the Himalayas during the week. Under its influence, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls are likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya and sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during the week. This situation may bring more water to the rivers in Bihar. However, the intensity of rainfall is likely to decrease during the second half of the week.
In the week ended August 27, only 12 out of 36 meteorological subdivisions received excess to normal rains. Among them were Tamil Nadu, Ralayaseema, Jammu & Kaskmir, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Orissa, coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The rest of the country was dry. Though the US-based Center for Ocean Land Atmosphere Studies (COLA) has indicated a withdrawal of the south-west Monsoon from the Rajasthan border, the IMD has yet to admit this event. COLA has predicted heavy rains at the foothills of Himalaya, eastern and northeastern India and in the southern peninsula till September 6.