New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed serious concern over the blockage on the River Kosi in Nepal and directed concerned authorities to provide all possible helps to the Bihar government and the neighbouring nation.
Bihar government had on Saturday ordered immediate evacuation of people living along the embankment of Kosi in four districts. Describing the situation as ‘most alarming', Bihar Disaster Management Department (DMD) Principal Secretary Vyasji had said the present scenario created prospect of imminent floods in Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura and Madhubani districts.
He said the highest level alert has been sounded and Supaul town has been made the headquarters to tackle the imminent crisis. Relief and rescue operations are being planned if the Kosi water breaches or crosses the embankment causing floods in the districts.
“The people are being asked to evacuate the area between the river and its embankments and take refuge in relief camps established by the District Magistrates. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are reaching there. We have also alerted New Delhi about the impending disaster,” Vyasji said.
The crisis like situation has developed after a massive landslide last night over Bhote Kosi, a major tributary of the Kosi River. The landslide has blocked the main course of the river, damming it and forming a huge water body. The Nepal Army is preparing to blast it to provide relief to the area but the operation will release a massive volume of water into the river.
The state government is keeping its fingers crossed that a repeat of the Kosi disaster 2008 does not happen. A breach in Kosi embankment at Kushaha in Nepal in August 2008 had resulted in one of the most disastrous floods in Bihar. The river changed its course, killing hundreds of people and displacing around 30 lakh. The incident also wrought wide scale destruction in over 8 lakh acres of cropland.
