Jagran Correspondent, Bhagalpur | The Kosi River, also known as the sorrow of Bihar, is likely to add to trouble in parts of flood-hit Bihar due to the cyclonic circulation formed in the Bay of Bengal and torrential rains in the catchment areas of neighbouring country Nepal. The swelling Kosi River prompted authorities to issue an alert.
The Water Resources Department has issued a 'high alert' for the Kosi basin and warned that there could be a massive discharge of more than 6 lakh cusecs of water from the Veerpur Kosi Barrage within the next 24 to 48 hours. The discharge at the barrage till 9 am on Friday was recorded at 1.90 lakh cusecs, which is continuously increasing.
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Kosi Region Under Threat
In view of the possible flow of six lakh cusecs, the administrative machinery has been deployed on alert mode in the entire Kosi region, including Supaul, Saharsa, Khagaria and Navgachhiya (Bhagalpur).
25 gates of the barrage were opened to reduce pressure. The water flow at the Kosi Barrage is changing rapidly. The river has been rough since Thursday afternoon. While the discharge was 1.77 lakh cusecs on Thursday evening, it jumped to 1.90 lakh cusecs by 9 am on Friday.
To control the heavy pressure of rising water on the barrage structure and to ensure safe passage of water downstream, 25 out of the total 56 gates of Kosi Barrage have been opened.
Chief Engineer of Flood Control Veerpur (Supaul) E Sanjeev Shailesh said that to prevent any damage to the structure of the barrage, the rising water is being systematically released downstream through the gates in the middle of the barrage.
24-Hour Camps At Critical Spots
If 600,000 cusecs of water is released from the barrage, the embankments will face pressure unseen in decades. In view of this, a full force of engineers has been deployed to ensure impenetrable protection of the Eastern Kosi embankment.
Alok Kumar, Executive Engineer, Chandrayan Division (Saharsa), said that the team of engineers has been strictly instructed to camp day and night (24 hours) at the identified vulnerable points of the embankment, especially at 96.60 km, 101.23 km and 103.30 km.
To combat the threat of erosion, storage of lakhs of sandbags and boulder crates has already been completed. At the same time, in Maruna of Supaul, BDO Rachna Bhartiya and Assistant Engineer Arun Kumar conducted a thorough inspection of the entire embankment, including the most sensitive 17.20 km spur.
The villagers fled to higher ground, abandoning their homes and cattle, after announcements within the embankment. The threat of a flood has created widespread panic in hundreds of villages located within the embankment. Administrative teams are continuously making announcements through loudspeakers in the Diara areas of Saharsa, Supaul, Khagaria, and Navgachhiya.
(With Inputs From Madhbendra Kumar)