2008 Kosi disaster
The 2008 flood in Koshi River caused by an embankment breach at Kusaha village of Sunsari district in Nepal was one of the most disastrous floods in the history of Bihar.
The embankments were built by the Government of India in 1959 as per the 1954 Kosi Treaty between the both nations.
On August 18, 2008, the Kosi River breached its embankment about 13 km upstream of the Kosi Barrage in Nepal, right km north of the Indian border.
The flood displaced 45,000 people in Nepal and more than 3 million residents in north Bihar.
The worst hit districts were Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura, Araria and Purnia.
Approximately 493 lives were lost and 3,500 were reported missing after the disaster. The damaged caused by the flood was highest in five decades of flood history in Bihar.
