The flood situation in Bihar deteriorated on Monday after embankments of the Kosi River in Darbhanga district and the Bagmati River in Sitamarhi district were breached, according to officials.
The Kosi River, in spate, breached its embankment near Kartarpur block, inundating the villages of Kirtarpur and Ghanshyampur in Darbhanga late Sunday night. In Sitamarhi district, seepage was reported in the embankment of the Bagmati River in the Runni Saidpur block, reports PTI.
“The flood situation has worsened due to fresh embankment breaches, but it remains under control. There is no need to panic,” an official stated. He added that the state water resources and disaster management departments are working on a war footing to manage the situation.
“Six embankment breaches have been reported across the state so far. Some have already been repaired, and work is underway on the others,” said Bihar Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary.
In addition to the breaches in Darbhanga and Sitamarhi, the embankment of the Bagmati River at Madhkaul village in Sitamarhi and the embankment of the Gandak River in West Champaran were damaged by excessive water pressure. This resulted in the inundation of areas in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, according to officials.
While water levels have started to recede in some rivers, floodwaters were reported to be flowing above embankments in Valmikinagar and Kiratpur in Darbhanga. Despite the challenges, no casualties have been reported so far due to the floods.
The Bihar government has sounded an alert across northern, southern, and central parts of the state, following heavy discharges of water from the Birpur and Valmikinagar barrages over the weekend. However, water discharge levels have reduced since Monday morning. At Valmikinagar, discharge decreased from 5.62 lakh cusecs on Sunday to 1.89 lakh cusecs by 8 a.m. Monday, while the Birpur barrage saw a reduction from 6.61 lakh cusecs to 2.88 lakh cusecs over the same period.
In response to the worsening flood situation, six additional National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams from Varanasi and Ranchi are being deployed, supplementing the 12 NDRF and 22 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams already engaged in relief and rescue efforts across the affected districts.
Despite receding water levels in smaller rivers, over 16 lakh people have been impacted by the deluge, officials said. Affected districts include West and East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Patna, Jehanabad, Madhubani, Araria, Purnea, Katihar, and Bhojpur.
