Bihar Floods: Alert Issued In Northern, Central Parts Of State After Water Release From Barrages

The Bihar government has issued a flood alert for areas near the Kosi, Gandak, and Ganga rivers due to massive water discharge from barrages.

The Bihar government has issued a flood alert for areas along the swollen Kosi, Gandak, and Ganga rivers in the northern and central regions of the state after water was released from the Valmikinagar (West Champaran) and Birpur (Supaul) barrages on Saturday, according to a senior official.

Santosh Kumar Mall, Principal Secretary of the state Water Resources Department, said that 5.7 lakh cusecs of water were discharged from the Birpur Barrage on the Kosi River by noon, marking the highest release in recent memory. News agency PTI reported that all necessary safety precautions are being taken to safeguard the embankments.

Similarly, 4.2 lakh cusecs of water were released from the Valmikinagar Barrage by the same time.

"Due to continuous rainfall over the past few days, water levels in several rivers across the state have been steadily rising. The rain in Nepal’s catchment areas has also caused many rivers to approach or exceed danger levels in bordering districts," the official added.

As a result of the heavy discharge, excess water has inundated low-lying areas in Jogapatti, Nautan, Gaunaha, Bagaha-1, Bagaha-2, Ramnagar, Majhaulia, and Narkatiaganj blocks in West Champaran, as well as parts of East Champaran, officials confirmed.

With the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting more heavy rain and warning of a risk of low to moderate flash floods, the state has sounded an alert in multiple districts.

An IMD bulletin, released on Friday, indicated that districts like West and East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Patna, Jehanabad, Madhubani, and Bhojpur could experience heavy rainfall and flash floods over the next 24 hours.

The state disaster management department has urged district administrations to stay vigilant and implement preventive measures in response to the weather forecast, PTI reported.

Several districts along the Ganga, including Buxar, Bhojpur, Saran, Patna, Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger, and Bhagalpur, are already grappling with a flood-like situation. Torrential rains have affected around 13.5 lakh people in low-lying areas, officials reported, with many residents being evacuated to relief camps.