Several Champaran villages affected by floods

BETTIAH/MOTIHARI/BAGAHA: While incessant rain since Sunday has claimed 114 lives and four dozen people are reported missing in the wake of landslides in the upper reaches of Nepal, the turbulent waters of the Narayani, Gandak in India, now threaten lives and property in the catchment areas of Bihar’s West Champaran and neigbouring Kushinagar district of UP.Already, several villages in the two districts were inundated by Tuesday even as 4.40 lakh cusecs flowed in through the Valmikinagar barrage on Tuesday. No loss of life was, however, reported on the Indian side of the Narayani-Gandak basin.
Kushinagar DM Bhupendra Chaudhary and SP Vinod K Mishra reached Valmikinagar on Tuesday and met WRD superintending engineer Indrajeet Singh to take stock of the situation. Khadda circle officer Shiv Swarup said Basahi, Marchawa, Basantpur and Shivpur villages in Kushinagar were flooded.
Heavy rain and landslides disrupted the Pokhara-Kathmandu highway. The Mauwakhola bridge between Dhading and Muglin caved in. Senior environmental journalist Chandra Kishore said the Narayanghat bridge has come under stress with the Narayani topping the 12-metre mark, way above the 9 metre danger level.
“With several smaller mountain rivers merging with the Narayani, the flow is gushing southward towards the terai and the Gandak basin in Champaran,” Kishore said, adding the seasonal southern flow of these Himalayan rivers is natural. “It is sad that the Indian media still harps that Nepal releases water,” he said.
Kishor also called out a Nepali narrative that embankments in India devastate the Nepal terai plains. “The three barrages at Tanakpur over the Sarada in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh, Valmikinagar over the Gandak in Champaran and the Bardohi-Birpur barrage on the Kosi were all built as part of India-Nepal treaties to mutually harness and utilize the water,” he said, adding India controls the barrages.
In West Champaran, the Valmikinagar aerodrome and Thari, Lakshmipur-Rampurwa, Jhandahwa and Chakdahwa on the left bank of the Gandak have been submerged. Three SSB border outposts have also been inundated. Revenue inspector Jai Prakash said villagers of Chakdahwa were shifted to the Bheriari school.
The turbulent Masan river was also eroding both its banks along its course. People of Sisahi in Madhubani and Balua-Thori in Piprasi blocks in the Gandak basin were dependent on boats for moving to safer places.
West Champaran DM Kundan Kumar reached Bagaha and reviewed the preparations. “All our embankments on the Gandak are safe and have been reinforced,” he said while directing the officials to immediately shift people to higher ground, if needed. “The NDRF is also on alert,” he said.
Heavy rain on both sides of the India-Nepal border around Lalbakeya in East Champaran has posed a threat to the catchment areas. With the stalemate on the strengthening of the embankment continuing for several weeks, the spectre of floods is haunting. “Planners on both sides urgently need to amicably resolve such water issues so that civilians are protected,” said Rajiv Jha, the chair at the India-Nepal Open Border Interaction Forum.
The embankments on the Bagmati and Bakeya rivers in Nepal, that were breached last year, are again under threat. The catchment areas of Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Sheohar and East Champaran are also reported to be on alert. The Nepal weather office reported 169.2mm rainfall in the Lalbakeya basin on Monday.