The flood situation in Bihar worsened on Monday as the embankments of the Kosi and Bagmati rivers were breached, prompting the authorities to intensify relief operations. Kosi river in Darbhanga district and Bagmati in Sitamarhi caused the submersion of several villages.
Raging Koshi, Bagmati pose a threat to the region
The Kosi river was in spate and breached its embankment near Kartarpur block, inundating Kirtarpur and Ghanshyampur villages in Darbhanga late on Sunday. On the other side, raging Bagmati caused seepage in the embankment of river in Runni Saidpur block in Sitamarhi district.
"The flood situation has worsened with fresh embankment breaches but it is under control. There is nothing to panic," an official said.
Bihar Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said, "Altogether six incidents of embankment breach have so far been reported from various parts of the state. Some of them have already been repaired and work is going on for others."
The embankment of the Bagmati River at Madhkaul village in Sitamarhi and the Gandak river's embankment in West Champaran were damaged due to excessive water pressure, resulting in inundation in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, another official said.
"Water flowing above the embankments was reported from Valmikinagar and Kiratpur in Darbhanga. But now water level in several rivers started receding. No casualty has been reported so far in Bihar due to the flood", the minister said.
12 teams of NDRF and 22 of SDRF deployed
The authorities deployed six more teams of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDRF) from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Ranchi in Jharkhand in north Bihar after the flood situation worsened.
They are being engaged in addition to the existing 12 teams of NDRF and 22 of State Disaster Management Authority (SDRF) deployed in the relief and rescue operation in the flood-affected districts," said a bulletin issued by the disaster management department on Monday.
"Despite water levels receding in several small rivers, the overall situation remained grim with over 16 lakh people affected by the deluge. No fatality has been reported so far," another official said.
(With PTI inputs)
