Flood situation in Bihar worsens as 56 sluice gates of Kosi barrage on Indo-Nepal border opened

PATNA: Flood situation in Bihar worsened further on Sunday, a day after all 56 sluice gates of Kosi barrage were opened as the water level rose to an alarming situation following incessant rain across the Himalayan country.
Flood waters of different rivers on Sunday spread to more than 600 villages under 352 panchayats in 55 blocks of Sitamarhi, Sheohar, East Champaran, Madhubani, Araria, Kishanganj, Supaul, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur districts in north Bihar.A population of around 18 lakh has so far been affected in nine districts of the state.
Sitamarhi is the worst-affected district where a population of 11 lakh has been affected, followed by Araria with a 5 lakh affected people.
“Four persons have so far died in flood-related incidents in Araria, Sheohar and Kishanganj district. Of four, two deaths were reported from Araria district where 83 panchayts under eight blocks are worst hit,” a disaster management department (DMD) official told TOI on Sunday evening.
The authorities are running a total of 152 relief camps in six districts where 45,000 affected people have taken shelter. A total of 251 community kitchens are being run in seven of the nine affected districts to provide food to flood-hit families, the DMD official said.

Furious flood waters push this bike-borne young man off the road at Samia village under Jhanjharpur sub-division. TOI photo
Total 19 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been pressed into service to launch rescue operations in the flood-hit areas. A maximum of four such teams have been deputed in Sitamarhi district, followed by Madhubani and Darbhanga, where three teams have been deputed for each district.
Earlier in the day, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials at his official residence in Patna to review flood situation across the state. The CM asked the officials to remain alert and maintain a 24-hour vigil on all the factors responsible for flood in Bihar.
He asked the DMD officials to make necessary arrangements for opening relief camps to provide shelter to affected people. Besides chief secretary Deepak Kumar and development commissioner Subhash Sharma, top officials of water resources department, DMD, road construction department and rural works department attended the review meeting.
Later in the afternoon, the CM undertook an aerial survey in the five-affected districts namely Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Sheohar and East Champaran. Nitish asked the officials to expedite the rescue and relief operations.
State’s WRD minister Sanjay Kumar Jha and chief secretary Deepak Kumar also accompanied the CM during aerial survey.