Said to be the worst flood in Bihar in the last 50 years, the Seemanchal region is badly hit, which has left eight dead, many missing with thousands homeless. Flood waters reached over 100 villages in Seemanchal region of Bihar, forcing people to abandon their homes, as many rivers in the state rose and posed a threat to other villages. All the inundated villages are in the flood-prone districts of Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria, Muzaffarpur and Katihar.
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| Flood waters entered inside house |
An unconfirmed report said that at least eight people, including three schoolgirls, have drowned in the flood water. In flood-ravaged Kishanganj district, four persons, Santosh Murmu (of village Ghordigha) Munwar (Kochadhaman) Santosh Mandal (Bahadurganj ) and Mukhbir (Halikhuwa ) were reportedly drowned on Wednesday, according to official and unofficial sources.
As flood waters were receding in many water-logged bustees in the district town, the residents are cruelly exposed to accumulated dirt and slush. In some parts, people apprehended outbreak of water-borne diseases as well.
“Flood waters entered more than 100 villages of Amaur block in Purnea, Forbesganj and Sikti in Araria and Kochadham in Kishanganj. In Muzaffarpur, dozens of villages were inundated in Aurai and Katra blocks,” an official of the state disaster management department said.
The department officials told that fear of floods was gripping villages again in Bihar, with water levels rising in several rivers following heavy rain in the state and in the catchment areas in neighbouring Nepal. “Water levels in the Mahananda, Bagmati, Kamla Balan, Gandak, Bodhi Gandak and Kosi rivers are showing rising trend over the past two days, threatening hundreds of villages in over half a dozen districts,” the official said.
The Bihar government has alerted engineers and asked them to keep a 24-hour vigil in the area.
“All engineers have been directed to be ready with necessary equipment and boulders to face any situation and to protect the embankments,” Rajeshwar Dayal, engineer-in-chief (north) at the water resources department, said. However, Bihar Water Resources Development Minister Vijay Kumar said all embankments were safe, and there was no need to panic. He said the eastern Kosi embankment, which had breached in 2008 flooding five districts of northern Bihar, was totally safe.
“The embankment was strengthened and breach repair work was completed,” he said. In 2008, more than three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course.
Though there has lately been a let-up in the overall flood situation across Kishanganj district, but not before claiming four precious human lives, flood fury has now turned towards Katihar district after food waters flowed downstream and all the three rivers, including Mahananda, Ganga and turbulent Kosi, are on an upsurge now in the area of Katihar district.
Katihar Mahananda division superintending engineer (SE) Shyam Ram Paswan on Thursday, said as the river Mahananda on its downstream was swelling, it was building up tremendous pressures on the two embankments-the 31km long Barkhol to Diwanganj as well as on 51km long Jhauwa to Barsoi and Kusidah embankments on the river Mahananda. "The rampaging Mahananda is also threatening different spurs at Jhauwa and Azamnagar," he told.
The surging Mahananda was vastly eroding the banks at strategic Ramayanpur and Jhauwa which could ultimately pose a threat to the embankment , the SE said, adding "All the executive and junior engineers, positioned at Salmari, Barsoi, Azamnagar and Diwanganj, were asked to maximize their efforts to protect the embankment at all costs."
The 'saucer-like' Katihar district, which is encircled by Mahananda and at its lower tips by Ganga and Kosi , was witnessing a big surge in water-levels in the rivers Ganga and Kosi as well. "The rivers Ganga and Kosi were, however, rising slowly at the moment," the SE said.
According to Katihar ADM (disaster management) Rajendra Prasad, three blocks of Kadwa, Amdabad and partly Manihari were impacted as flood waters have inundated large swathe of the low-lying areas in these blocks. The rampaging flood waters had also crippled rural road connectivity, he said. Though flood waters had not as yet swamped the houses in these areas, authorities are keeping a watch as rivers indicated ascendancy, the ADM told.
The rampaging Kosi waters have inundated many villages across Supaul and Saharsa districts in Kosi division. Supaul ADM Arun Kumar, however, said that flood waters were receding in the district.Meanwhile, a tangible dip in the water discharge level of Kosi at Bhimnagar barrage, near Birpur and Barahkshetra, which tumbled down from Wednesday's 2,50,560 and 2,01,700 cusecs to 2,27,010 and 1,92,900 cusecs at 2pm on Thursday, has brought a reprieve to engineers, according to CWC office at Purnia.
