Bagmati in spate at many places

PATNA: Moderate to heavy rainfall will continue to lash the basins of the rivers flowing through south Bihar and in bordering areas of Jharkhand till Friday, according to the flood bulletin of the water resources department (WRD).
Accordingly, the basins of the rivers like North Koel, Punpun, Falgu and Sakri-Panchane are likely to receive moderate to heavy rainfall over the next three days.
The north Bihar plains also received light to moderate rainfall on Tuesday, as a result of which the water discharge through Kosi on the east and Gandak in the west kept on increasing all through the day, worsening the flood scenario in their basin areas.
The water discharge through the Birpur barrage across Kosi in Supaul district increased dramatically from 1.69 lakh cusecs in the morning to 1.95 lakh cusecs in the afternoon and is expected to increase further over the coming days. As a result of it, people living along the lower reaches of the river may be affected by flood.
On the other hand, the water discharge through Valmiki Nagar barrage across Gandak remained steady at around 1.50 lakh cusecs in the morning, but increased to 1.58 lakh cusecs by the afternoon.
Among other rivers, the water level in the Bagmati was rising. The river was flowing above the danger level at many places, posing fresh flood threat. Similarly, Kamla was flowing 1.10 metres above the danger level at Jaynagar and 1.19 metres at Jhanjharpur. The water level in the Ganga has begun to rise in Buxar on the west and Kahalgaon in the east, while Mahananda was flowing below the danger mark.
Meanwhile, the swollen Masan river has been eroding its left bank fast at Dih tola of Raibari-Mahuyawa panchayat under Bagaha-1 block in the Bagaha subdivision of West Champaran district for the last one week. There is threat of soil erosion to over 100 acres of arable land with sugarcane crops.
Dwelling houses of Prabhu Yadav, Manoj Yadav, Eslam Khan, Kunkun Yadav, Lalbachan Yadav, Ghur Yadav, Lalbabu Prasad and others have already been eroded. The rescued families have taken shelter at different places with their children and domestic animals.
The mukhiya of the panchayat, Shamsad Ali, said sub-divisional magistrate of Bagaha, Shekhar Anand, along with subordinate officials inspected the erosion site. The villagers demanded anti-erosion work.
Meanwhile, the protection bund made for the left bank of the Gandak in Bagaha was being threatened by the river in Miraza tola and Parasnagar localities.
(With inputs from Tirthraj Kushwaha in Bagaha)