Officials of the state disaster management department (DMD) said they were keeping a close tab on the situation in the areas which were already inundated by smaller rivers or on the verge of flooding.
With rivers already flowing above danger mark at several places and flood threat looming large in some districts of Bihar, the state government has upped its preparedness to tackle the disaster and minimise its damages by ensuring quick post-flood evacuation and relief operations.
Officials of the state disaster management department (DMD) said they were keeping a close tab on the situation in the areas which were already inundated by smaller rivers or on the verge of flooding. "The situation is under control at present. The department is well prepared to fight floods. The concerned district administrations have also issued advisories to the resident to be on alert," a DMD official said.
Among the rivers which are in spate are Ganga, Mahananda, Bagmati, Ghaghra, Kosi, Gandak and Kamla Balan, mainly due to heavy rains and discharge of several lakh cusec water from neighbouring Nepal.
According to sources, floodwater has already entered in some panchayats of Gaunaha and Narkatiaganj in West Champaran and parts of Raxaul in East Champaran. Heavy discharge of water from barrages at Bhimnagar and Birpur also resulted in increase in water level of River Kosi, threatening floods in Saharsa, Supaul and Khagaria districts.
Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been stationed in flood-prone areas including Katihar, Purnia, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur and West Champaran districts. Temporary, portable, pre-fabricated bridges have been kept on standby and officials of the state road construction department have been put on alert in case road or permanent bridges get damaged and connectivity is hampered during the floods.
Bihar is a multi-hazard prone state with flood becoming an annual disaster every monsoon. Loss of several lives and property were reported in the floods in the last few years. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conducted an aerial survey to assess the damages and announced Rs 500 crore package for the flood-hit areas in Bihar.
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