Flood fury: Embankment breached in Bihar's Sitamarhi; water enters parts of Bagaha town

PATNA: The floodwaters of river Bagmati on Sunday caused 35-metre breach in its left embankment near Madhkaul village in Belsand block of Sitamarhi, reports also said the surging water of the river Gandak overtopped the town-protection ring bund in Bagaha in West Champaran entering a dozen houses in Ward No. 4.No casualty has been reported in the state so far. The water resources department (WRD) flood bulletin on Sunday said efforts were on to plug the breach caused in the left embankment of the river Bagmati. Reports from West Champaran said that there was pressure of floodwaters from the Gandak river on the Pipra-Piprasi embankment, and flood-fighting materials were being used to prevent any damage to it.Meanwhile, the WRD suspended executive engineer of Bagaha flood control wing, Nishikant Kumar, for dereliction of duty, holding him responsible for damage caused to Champaran embankment on the left bank of the river Gandak in West Champaran district. Reports from Araria said heavy rain in the catchment areas have put half a dozen small rivers originating in Nepal, including Parman, Bakra, Nuna, Lohanda, Ratua and Sursar, in spate. Floodwaters overtopped railway lines at a few places in Araria district, resulting in cancellation of train services from Jogbani railway station on the Indo-Nepal border to Katihar on Sunday.The water discharge through the Birpur barrage peaked to 6.12 lakh cusecs at 10am on Sunday, and then fell drastically to 3.98 lakh cusecs by 2pm. Similarly, the water discharge through the Valmikinagar barrage on Gandak reached its peak of 5.62 lakh cusecs at 10pm on Saturday, falling to 4.70 lakh cusecs at 10am on Sunday, and then to 3.88 lakh cusecs by 2pm. We also published the following articles recently