Flash flood hits Bihar, UP; water breaches Gandak embankment
What's the story
Heavy rainfall in Nepal's Gandak River basin has caused a flash flood, putting several districts in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on high alert. The flood caused a breach in the Gandak embankment at Bagaha on Monday. The Water Resources Department of Bihar recorded a massive discharge of 5,43,500 cusecs at the Valmikinagar Gandak Barrage at 6:00am on Tuesday.
Affected areas
Floodwaters surge through several districts
The river maintained a discharge of over 500,000 cusecs for 13 hours and over 400,000 cusecs for 32 hours.
This led to floodwaters surging through West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, Muzaffarpur, and Vaishali districts.
Heavy rainfall in border districts such as West Champaran and East Champaran between September 26 and 27 had already raised water levels before the recent surge.
Record levels
River breaks previous flood record
The river reached a new Highest Flood Level (HFL) of 91.25 meters at the Bagaha gauge site, surpassing the previous record of 90.90 meters set in 2024 by 0.35 meters, according to the water resources department.
The massive discharge put immense pressure on river embankments, causing seepage and overtopping at several points.
Field teams managed to plug 169 seepage and piping points through emergency repairs, but critical breaches occurred at three places between September 28 and September 29.
Breach details
Spillover water threatens low-lying areas
In West Champaran, two breaches were reported on the left bank of the Champaran embankment.
The first was a minor breach of around 10 meters due to sudden subsidence at Khairatwa village.
Spillover water is spreading through nearby fields and may re-enter the river around the 9.50km mark, threatening low-lying areas in Agastya, Khairatwa, and Chandrapur villages with inundation.
Response efforts
Water levels receding
The second breach was reported at Phuliyakhar village in Bairia block.
Another breach was reported on the right bank of the river in Kushinagar district, Uttar Pradesh.
As of Tuesday morning, water levels at Valmikinagar Barrage were receding, with downstream discharge reducing to 191,200 cusecs.
The Water Resources Department and West Champaran district administration have deployed teams for breach plugging and emergency protection works.