A flood alert has been sounded in 13 districts situated along the swollen Kosi, Gandak and Ganga rivers in Bihar, affecting over 16.28 lakh people. Water discharge in these rivers has significantly increased due to heavy rains in Nepal. A total of 5.79 lakh cusecs of water was released from Birpur Barrage on Kosi River till 7 pm on Saturday, the highest in 56 years, as per the state Water Resources Department. The affected districts include Buxar, Bhojpur, Saran, Patna, Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger and Bhagalpur.
RJD MP Misa Bharti said all the gates of the Kosi River have been opened. "The water level is quite high. We hope that the CM of Bihar and all the ministers are fully prepared to handle the situation if it leads to any flooding. After heavy rains, the Bagmati River swelled in Nepal, causing flooding in many districts along the border with India. As a result, the waters breached an embankment, leading to floods in several areas of Bihar,"she told PTI.
Nepal Released 5.40 Lakh Cusecs Of Water In Gandak Barrage
Authorities from neighbouring Nepal released 5.40 lakh cusecs of water in Gandak barrage till 7 pm on Saturday and 4.99 lakh cusecs of water in Kosi barrage. The excess river water entered low-lying areas of West and East Champaran, Gopalganj, Araria, Supaul, Katihar, Purnea and several other districts. An alert has already been sounded for several districts of Bihar as the IMD predicted heavy rain and warned of flash flood risk in parts of the state. Districts such as West and East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Patna, Jehanabad, Madhubani and Bhojpur districts are likely to experience heavy rain.
Farmers in north Bihar have been affected by the unexpected late-season floods that have damaged thousands of acres of standing Kharif crops. The farmers may face difficulties as the flood has damaged seeds being prepared by the Bihar Agricultural University at Sabour (Bhagalpur) in an area of 1.05 acres.