Picture of Kosi Barrage.
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
Kosi river is once again in spate after continuous torrential rains in Nepal division. In the last 24 hours, the water level of Kosi river has increased by about 4 lakh cusecs. At 1 pm in Barah area of Nepal, 4 lakh 45 thousand 550 cusecs of water has been discharged and 5 lakh 21 thousand 455 cusecs of water has been discharged from Kosi Barrage.
The surge of Kosi was expected to cause huge devastation in Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Khagaria, Katihar and Bhagalpur districts. A few hours later, at 4 pm, the update came that Nepal has released 549500 cusecs of water from Kosi Barrage Veerpur and 501650 cusecs of water from Gandak Barrage Valmikinagar. Then at 6 pm the discharge of Kosi Barrage increased to 5,67,760. A discharge of 5 lakh 90 thousand 385 cusecs of water has been recorded from Kosi Barrage at 8 pm on Saturday. At 10 o’clock the discharge increased from 5,67,760 to 6,01,600. After this increase in the water level, the flow of the river is adjacent to the lower part of the bridge built on the barrage. Due to the hiccups in the water, the water from the barrage has overflowed and started flowing over the bridge. With this, the flood devastation has started in Bihar. The Principal Secretary of the Water Resources Department has issued a high alert to the concerned District Magistrates. Meanwhile, the fear of flood devastation in the India-Nepal border areas has come to the fore due to the breach of the dam of the (Lalbakeya) river near the Fatuha bridge of Nepal.
operations have been completely halted
Here, in view of the continuous rise in water level, the movement of vehicles has been completely stopped from Kosi Barrage located in Nepal Division. In Supaul, District Magistrate Kaushal Kumar himself is out monitoring the embankment areas. He said that in the last 24 hours, more than 200 mm of rain has been recorded in the catchment area of Kosi River in Nepal Division. Due to this, Kosi river has suddenly swelled. Micing is being done by the administration and people are being appealed to take shelter at safe places. It has been clarified in the miking of the administration that the expected discharge of Kosi Barrage at 12 noon is the highest in the last 56 years. DM said that the administration is fully alert in view of possible floods and erosion. Kosi engineers have also been instructed to continuously monitor the embankment.
Kosi water level is continuously increasing since Friday
After the continuous rise in the water level of Kosi since Friday evening, flood water has started spreading in the populated areas situated between the eastern and western embankments. But an even bigger concern for Kosi engineers is the continuous rise in water level in Barah area of Nepal Division. A discharge of 05 lakh 08 thousand 350 cusecs of water has been recorded in increasing order from Barah area at 8 pm on Saturday evening.
