Students of flood-hit Rampur village in Gopalganj on way to their school. Picture by Rakesh Singh

Over three lakh people in Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi districts have been displaced by the floodwaters of the Bagmati and Lakhandai.

Aurai, Katra and Gaighat in Muzaffarpur and Sursand and Sonbarsa blocks in Sitamarhi districts are the worst affected. While the Bagmati and Lakhandai have inundated major parts of Aurai and Katra blocks, the Rato and Jhim have created havoc at Sursand and Sonbarsa.

The overflowing Rato and Jhim have inundated a camp of Sashastra Seema Bal in Sonbarsa. Traffic along National Highway 104 between Sitamarhi and Sheohar remained crippled for the second consecutive day on Sunday.

Sources said thousands of people have fled the flood-hit areas. The sources added that the situation worsened after the discharge of 3.07-lakh cusec water from Valmikinagar Barrage on the Gandak.

“Another reason behind the rise of the Bagmati’s water level is torrential rain at the catchment areas in Nepal,” water resources department executive engineer Rajendra Prasad said.

He added that a team of supervisors and village guards has been deployed to keep a close watch on the embankments. A team of junior engineers has been asked to start repair at places that need immediate attention.

There are no reports of erosion, except at a few places in Gaighat. BJP MLA from Gaighat Veena Devi inspected a few sites in Gaighat block on Saturday and expressed displeasure over the lack of preparations to tackle the flood fury.