Bihar Flood: High Alert as Continuous Rainfall Raises River Water Levels

Due to continuous rainfall in the Nepal Division since 27 September 2024, there is a possibility of rising water levels in rivers like Gandak, Koshi, Mahananda and Bagmati. At 7 am today, 5.38 lakh cusecs of water flow have been reported from Gandak Barrage, Valmikinagar and 5.79 lakh cusecs from Koshi Barrage, Veerpur, which is seeing a trend of further increase. The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar and the state administration have taken special precautions because of the situation.

According to special information, 5.40 lakh cusecs of water is flowing at Devghat site upstream of Gandak Barrage and 4.99 lakh cusecs of water is flowing at Barahkshetra upstream of Koshi Barrage in Bihar. Because of this situation, the movement has been banned on Koshi Barrage, Veerpur by the Bihar administration.

Keeping safety in mind, all regional engineers are camping at sensitive and highly sensitive sites. An adequate amount of materials has been stored to deal with floods on the embankments. Embankment workers have been deputed at every kilometer.

As per requirement, 45 junior engineers, 25 assistant engineers, 17 executive engineers and 03 superintending engineers have also been deployed for better supervision of sensitive sites.

Keeping in mind the disaster situation, the Water Resources Department has set up a "War Room" to function 24 hours, which will monitor and take action on matters related to flood control, irrigation, forecasting and modeling, mechanical works and public relations under the leadership of the Principal Secretary.

Because of the possible flood disaster situation, the concerned district administration has been instructed to take all necessary precautionary measures. Districts like West Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, East Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Sitamarhi, Shivhar, Samastipur, Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia, Katihar, Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura, Madheni, Darbhanga, Khagaria and Bhagalpur have been instructed to ensure patrolling for flood disaster.

Today's situation and preparations were reviewed in the presence of the Principal Secretary and other senior officials. At present, all embankments and structures in the state are said to be completely safe.

At present, the Water Resources Department is taking all necessary steps to deal with the potential threat of floods and ensure the safety of the people.