Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday conducted an aerial survey of East Champaran, Gopalganj, and West Champaran districts, where water levels in several rivers have surged significantly following heavy rainfall over the past few days.
Accompanied by Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and senior officials, the Chief Minister also visited the Gandak barrage at Valmiki Nagar.
In a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), it was stated, "The CM conducted an aerial survey of East Champaran, Gopalganj, and West Champaran districts and interacted with officials of the departments concerned. He instructed them to remain vigilant and fully prepared to manage the situation if water levels rise further."
The CM directed officials to stay on high alert as water levels continued to rise in several rivers across the state.
The situation was particularly serious in East Champaran, Gopalganj, and West Champaran districts, where rivers like Gandak and Burhi Gandak were either flowing above their danger levels or approaching them in certain areas, officials said.
"No casualties have been reported yet. In some areas of East and West Champaran districts, residents of low-lying areas have been relocated to safer locations by district administrations," they added.
Recent rains have caused the Gandak, Kosi, Ganga, Burhi Gandak, Mahananda, and Kamla rivers in Bihar to swell.
At various points, these rivers have exceeded their danger marks, leading to concerns in Gopalganj, East Champaran, West Champaran, Bagaha, Purnea, Supaul, Darbhanga, Khagaria, and Jhanjharpur districts.
On Monday, officials noted that the Kosi river's water level was above the danger mark in Supaul and Basantpur areas. Continuous rainfall in Nepal recently has also contributed to rising river levels across northern Bihar.
Officials cautioned that downstream areas could face flooding due to water releases from dams along the Kosi and Gandak rivers in Nepal.
Talking to reporters, Chaudhary said, "Considering the severity of the situation, authorities opened some gates at Valmiki Nagar barrage on the Gandak river on Sunday. This led to rapid water discharge, reaching a peak of 4.40 lakh cusecs on Sunday, the highest recorded since 2004. Similarly, around 3.90 lakh cusecs was discharged from the Kosi barrage."
Rivers like Kamla, Kosi, and Mahananda have crossed their danger marks in low-lying areas of Purnea, Madhubani, Khagaria, and Darbhanga, leading to flood-like situations.
"Parman river in Araria district surpassed the danger level on Monday. The Kosi river in Khagaria and Beldaur areas is also approaching the danger mark," officials said.
National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force personnel have been actively involved in relief efforts in low-lying areas of West Champaran, Gopalganj, East Champaran, and Supaul, officials said.
"Most rivers continue to rise along their courses, inundating low-lying areas. However, all safety embankments remain secure," the minister assured.
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