Bihar has been put on high alert and thousands were being evacuated on Saturday after Kathmandu urged Delhi to remain vigilant against flash floods. Nepal's warning to India came after a massive landslide triggered by heavy rains killed at least eight people, injured 40 and buried dozens of homes in Sindhupal chowk district, about 60km northeast of Kathmandu.
The landslide created a mud dam, blocking the Sunkoshi river near Jure in the district, heightening fears of downstream floods that could reach as far as Bihar.
Nepal's foreign ministry sought logistics support from India and China to open the dam in a controlled way. Nepal's army spokesman, Jagadish Pokharel, said soldiers had started opening the dam by setting off two controlled blasts to release water to avoid flash floods. "It is very serious. We are very much concerned about the consequences if it causes massive floods," he said. Kathmandu also asked India to be ready to open the gates of the Kosi Barrage on Nepal's borders in case there are sudden floods.
On this side of the border, authorities anticipated the Kosi to swell with unprecedented fury by Sunday. "Owing to torrential rains, Kosi's path upstream in Nepal's Sindhupal chowk district has been blocked by heavy landslides resulting in the formation of a big lake. Nepalese authorities are trying to breach in a controlled manner. Once the lake gets breached, a 3-5 metre wall of water will come gushing down and sweep four northern districts of Supaul, Madhepura, Saharsa and Madhubani in 14-18 hours," a senior home ministry official said. "Pray that the breach remains controlled or else the consequences will be disastrous. The flood wall could go be as high as 10 metres."
Anticipating the worst, the Bihar government sounded a high alert in all the four districts and ordered immediate evacuation. The enormity of a possible disaster also forced the Centre to go in a huddle. Cabinet secretary Ajit Seth called Union home secretary Anil Goswami and other top officials to review the situation and plan evacuation and relief measures. The Centre ordered immediate deployment of the National Disaster Management Force (NDRF) and put the security forces, including the Army, on standby.
"We need to evacuate at least 45,000 people immediately from 25 Panchayati blocks of four districts. Their lives are at stake," said an official, ruing the absence of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to immediately take stock, plan evacuation and relief on a massive scale. The official's comments vindicate DNA's story of a headless NDMA that has ceased to work since vice chairman and seven other members resigned a month ago. The government has so far failed to replace them.
A busy place in times of such disasters, the NDMA's office wore a deserted look on Saturday with most officials preferring to rest on the weekend. "No one is present in the office. You can come on Monday," said a guard at the NDMA headquarters building.
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