Heavy rainfall in Himalayan foothills spark fear of floods in north Bihar

Water resources department officials have stepped up vigil on embankments of north Bihar rivers and are carrying out restoration work wherever they notice any leakage or erosion

Dozens of villages in Sheohar and East Champaran are facing the flood fury as an overflowing Bagmati river is inundating areas located in low-lying areas of the districts.

Houses seen submerged in flood waters following heavy monsoon rainfall in Bihar in 2020. (PTI File Photo)

Traffic on the Sheohar-Motihar state highway (SH54) has also been affected, an engineer in the water resources department (WRD) said, claiming that efforts are on to plug the leakage in an under-construction safety embankment near Belwa village.

All major rivers originating from Nepal are in spate following heavy rainfall in the foothills of the Himalaya over the past couple of days. Local meterological department officials said that a ‘red alert’ has been issued for Purnea and Araria districts, while an ‘orange alert’ has been issued for Madhupura, Katihar, Patna, Buxar, Gopalganj, Buxar, Bhojpur districts, among others.

The authorities in West Champaran have already issued warning to the people settled near embankments of Gandak river to relocate to safer places following heavy discharge of water from the Valmikinagar barrage.

“About 2.64 lakh cusecs of water was released from the barrage on Wednesday, which might go up if incessant rains continue in catchment areas,” the WRD said.

The discharge of water in the Kosi river is also increasing the levels at the Birpur barrage, posing a threat to many houses on its banks.