Bihar on flood alert as water level rises in Kosi river, lakhs being evacuated

www.mangaloretoday.com

Patna, Aug 3, 2014: Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi on Sunday to take stock of the situation after rising water level in the Kosi river and flood warnings forced evacuations of lakhs of people people living near the embankment.

Eight teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and four teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the affected areas.

Bihar Water Resource Minister, Vijay Choudhary, said that he will accompany the state CM and take the aerial view of the situation.

Around one lakh people are being evacuated in eight districts of the state. Relief camps have been set up to aid the evacuated families.

The water level increased after low-intensity blasts were carried by the Nepalese Army to remove the landslide debris that turned Bhote Kosi river, a major tributary of Kosi, in Nepal into a lake.

“Shortly after the blasts, around few thousand cusecs of water was released,” Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary reportedly said.

The massive landslide took place on Friday at Jure in Sindhupalchok district of Nepal. Large parts of mountains fell into the river accumulating around 25 lakh cusec of water.

A flood alert was then sounded in Supaul, Saharsa, Purnea and Madhepura districts in the Kosi region

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rashid Alvi asked the government to look for a permanent solution to the problem which occurs year after year.