The flood situation northeastern Bihar turned grim on Friday after the water levels in several rivers rose dangerously and breached embankments at many places.
Rising water levels in rivers threaten floods in north Bihar
Gushing waters forced the railways to stop train services on the Darbhanga-Samastipur section. “Flood water was rising near railway bridge number 16 at Hayaghat. Operations on the section had to be stopped,” said East Central Railway chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar.
An approach road linking Goplagnaj with Bettiah was washed away by waters from river Gandak. “The road had started flooding on Wednesday, but the erosion caused by the high pressure water flow could not be prevented... We hope to resume traffic on the road soon,” said Gopalganj district magistrate Arshad Aziz.
About 8 lakh people in 10 districts of northeastern Bihar, comprising 64 blocks and 426 panchayats, are currently affected by floods. The government has set up 28 relief camps and community kitchens. Twenty-one teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 14 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been pressed into service to rescue marooned people.
“More than 3,200 people and 126 livestock have so far been safely evacuated by NDRF personnel… Last night, when the embankment breached at Bhawanipur village in East Champaran, our personnel from the 9th battalion rescued 1,200 people,” NDRF Commandant Vijay Sinha said.
“Due to the heavy rain in the last two days, water levels in rivers have risen sharply, flooding many areas... but our department officials are on high alert and responding to the emerging situation,” said State Water Resources Department Minister Sanjay Jha.
On Friday, river Saran breached at two places, Devapur village under Barauli block and Puraina village of Majahgarh block in Gopalganj district.
Bihar govt refutes reports of Sattarghat bridge being washed away in floods
“The villages of Kotwa, Kesaria and Kalyanpur blocks in East Champaran, Barauli and Manjha blocks in Gopalganj and Hanuman Nagar and Keoti blocks in Darbhanga have been inundated by water from the rivers Gandak and Bagmati,” an official of the Water Resources Department told The Hindu . Villagers were forced to take refuge in higher places, including national highways and government buildings.
The State government has, meanwhile, announced ₹6,000 as compensation to all flood affected families.
