Amid massive floods, Bihar's Gandak river swells after Nepal rain fury

Fed by heavy rains in Nepal, the Gandak river swelled to a record level on Tuesday, damaging embankments in the West Champarandistrict and threatening widespread inundation in Bihar already bruised by a massive flood.

The Water Resources Department said the water level in the Gandak river hit a record 91.25 metres at Bagaha following heavy rain in Nepal. This was 0.35 metres higher than what was recorded in 2024.

Two stretches of the Champaran embankment at Khairatwa in Bagaha-1 and Phuliyakhad in Bairia on the left bank of the Gandak were damaged overnight due to excessive water discharge from the Valmikinagar barrage following intense rainfall in Nepal, it said.

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The department said 169 seepage points have so far been repaired. Four teams have been rushed to Bagaha, Bettiah, Motihari and Gopalganj as embankments remained under heavy pressure, the department said.

A discharge of 5,43,500 cusecs was recorded at the Valmikinagar barrage at 6 am on Monday. The discharge remained above 5 lakh cusecs for 13 hours and above 4 lakh cusecs for 32 hours.

"At the Gandak Barrage in Valmikinagar, the discharge stood at 1,86,200 cusecs at 10 am, down from 1,91,200 cusecs at 8 am on Monday. At Kosi Barrage in Birpur, it was 1,20,055 cusecs at 10 am and 1,51,116 cusecs at the Sone Barrage in Indrapuri, the department said.