With the rise in level of the Ganga river, mainly due to release of water from Bansagar dam, there is flood-like situation in all the districts situated along the banks of the river in Bihar. The Ganga and six other rivers are flowing above danger mark in Patna, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Katihar, Siwan, Bhojpur, Buxar and Hajipur districts, a disaster management department statement said. The Ganga has crossed danger mark in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal also and it threatens to flood vast areas in the two States.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who held a high-level meeting to assess the situation, later went on an aerial survey of Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Begusarai and Khagaria. The Chief Minister told reporters that at the moment there is no possibility of floodwaters entering into town areas in Patna.
Around 15,000 people are sheltered in 82 relief camps after being evacuated from flood affected areas, it said adding that all camps have the facilities of medical team with medicines.
Stating that several districts of Bihar have been facing the threat of inundation, Kumar said, “The water level of Ganga has increased due to release of water from Indrapuri barrage and other rivers merging into Ganga. Besides, a huge volume of water has been released from Bansagar dam and it is expected that water level, which has reduced, will once again rise by tonight or tomorrow morning.”
The Chief Minister held Farakka dam responsible for slow discharge of water from Ganga which has become shallow due to heavy siltation.
The Ganga and the Yamuna are flowing above red mark in UP. According to Centre Water Commission (CWC), the Ganga is flowing above danger mark at Fafamau (Allahabad), Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia, while Yamuna is flowing above the red mark at Chillaghat (Banda) and Naini (Allahabad) and Mohna (Jalaun). Similarly, Sharda river is flowing above the danger mark at Palliakalan (Kheri).
In West Bengal, the Ganga crossed the extreme danger level in Malda district submerging vast areas in several villages affecting a population of nearly 20,000, a district official said on Sunday. Malda Additional District Magistrate Kanchan Chowdhury said the rise in the water level of the river was due to the release of 10 lakh cusecs of water from the Sone dam in Uttar Pradesh.
The badly affected areas are Kalichak Block number 3, Pardewanapur-Shobhapur gram panchayat and Birnagar gram panchayat, the ADM said.
Meanwhile, torrential rain caused flood-like situation in four districts of Rajasthan, where six persons have been killed and over 70 airlifted, officials said on Sunday.