Heavy rain in Nepal leads to flood in several Bihar districts

Lakhs of people have been displaced after floods ravaged Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, Madhubani, Araria, Darbhanga, Supaul and Kishanganj districts of Bihar. According to the state’s Disaster Management Department, four people were killed and 18 lakh people were affected, a PTI report said.

The flood has been caused by incessant rainfall in Nepal and the additional water discharge from Birpur barrage in the neighbouring country. All 56 gates of the barrage were opened on Saturday evening, leading to a rise in levels of Kosi, Gandak and Baghmati rivers. The release of four lakh cusecs of water from the barrage has inundated areas such as Supaul, Kisanpur, Marauna and Nirmali.

A swollen Baghmati has flooded over 200 villages of Sitamarhi and Sheohar in north Bihar.

Thousands of people are living in camps and eating at community kitchens being run by the state government. The Sheohar district has lost road connectivity to adjoining districts at several places.

The road linking Nanpur block of Sitamarhi and Gayghat block of Muzaffarpur is underwater at several places.

Besides Baghmati, Kamala Balan and Lakhandei rivers have swelled because of additional water discharge from Nepal.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and state Water Resources Minister Sanjay Jha conducted aerial survey of the flood-hit districts on Sunday.

Disaster Management Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit said, “We are sending teams of NDRF and SDRF for rescue operations. We are also running dozens of camps and community kitchens for the flood-affected people.” —(With PTI inputs)