Patna, Sept. 2: Heavy rainfall was reported from the Gandak catchment areas in Nepal today, sparking fear of another round of floods in Bihar.
Over 154mm rainfall was recorded in 36 hours at the rain gauge station at Pokhara in Nepal leading to a rise in the flow of water into the already-flooded Gandak and endangering West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj and Saran districts.
Discharge from Valmikinagar barrage on Gandak on the India-Nepal border at 6pm on Saturday was 1.34 lakh cusecs (1 cusec or cubic feet per second is around 28.32 litres per second), and was static.
'Water in Gandak is rising as is the danger of floods owing to heavy rainfall in its catchment areas in Nepal over the past two days. We have asked all junior engineers in the flood management divisions to camp on the embankments of the river in their respective areas,' said water resources minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh.
Disaster management department officials said all district administrations concerned had been alerted and they were keeping a watch on the situation. The main reason behind the floods that hit north Bihar from August 12, killing 514 persons and affecting 1.72 crore people, was severe rainfall in Nepal that flooded rivers originating there and flowing into Bihar, especially Gandak, Mahananda, Bagmati and their tributaries.
Floodwaters have now receded in most districts. It has drained out from Araria district, one of the worst hit among all affected ones. However, Bagmati in Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts, Burhi Gandak in Samastipur and Khagaria districts, and Kamla Balan in Madhubani were still flowing above the danger level.
Most people living in relief camps have returned to their villages and are trying to start their lives afresh after destruction of their houses, cattle, crops and other assets. Only 35 of the 1,358 relief camps opened during the floods are still operational.
The number of community kitchens has also dropped from 1,646 at its peak to 243. However, 1.15 lakh people are still partaking food there.
Distribution of Rs 6,000 as immediate flood relief to each family affected by floods continued on a war-footing today. Despite Bakr-Id, banks stayed open in the districts and transferred Rs 195.17 crore to over 3.25 lakh of the total 30 lakh families affected by floods.
