Patna, Aug. 12: Bind Toli, a small village on the banks of Ganga at Kurji, which was rehabilitated during the construction of Digha- Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge has been completely cut off from the rest of Patna owing to floods. 

Boats are the only medium of connectivity for around 200 families as it has become an island surrounded by the swollen Ganga. A team of senior officials from the district administration also visited the village on Friday morning to gauge the prevailing situation. “Water has gushed into around 20 houses and walls of a few houses have collapsed owing to the high current in the river. Though people in the village are safe at present, we have asked them to temporarily shift to a government land near the Industrial Training Institute at Digha,” said a senior district administration official.

Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal said an aerial survey of riverine areas of Ganga along Patna was conducted on Friday upon instructions from chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Apart from Bind Toli, water from the swollen Ganga has entered a number of areas along its banks, including Maner, Danapur and Bakhtiyarpur, over the past 48 hours as the level in the river has reached the danger mark.

The Ganga continued to follow a rising trend on Friday as well as it rose from 48.64m at Gandhi Ghat on Thursday evening to 48.87m on Friday morning. Though the river showed a falling trend at Allahabad in the past 12 hours, a rising trend is expected in the flow of river at places like Patna, Maner and Buxar owing to ongoing spells of showers in Bihar. The Met office has issued a forecast of moderate to heavy showers, particularly in the eastern parts of the state, owing to a depression over Jharkhand.“The level of water in the Ganga at Gandhi Ghat in Patna was 48.87m on Friday afternoon, where the danger level is 48.60m. Though a falling trend was observed at Allahabad in the upstream of the river, a rising trend in its downstream in Bihar is likely to be in effect over the next 48 hours due to heavy discharge from Sone,” said Lakshman Jha, superintending engineer, flood control and drainage circle, Patna, water resources department.

A rising trend is being observed in the water level in Ganga starting from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Gandhi Ghat in Patna over the past three days. 

Senior officials in the water resources department said all anti-flood sluice gates in Patna have been closed and teams comprising officials from district administration and the State Disaster Response Force are continuously patrolling the river bank and areas close to it.