Patna: Citing a NASA Earth Observatory report based on satellite imagery, deputy CM and water resources department (WRD) minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Saturday said heavy rainfall in the Gandak’s catchment areas in Nepal between Sept 24 and 27 led to a sharp rise in the river’s water level, contributing to flooding in its downstream districts in Bihar.“According to the NASA report, there was unprecedented heavy rain in the hilly areas of Lumbini and the Gandak catchment in Nepal from Sept 24 to 27. It led to landslides and a record rise in the level of the Gandak, known as Narayani in Nepal, both there and in the Bihar portion of the river,” Choudhary said.He said the floodwaters spread downstream in Bihar, overtopping embankments at several places and breaching them at a few locations. The impact was particularly visible in West Champaran, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur and Saran, he added.Choudhary said the report, titled ‘Rains Swamp the Gandak River’, was published by NASA Earth Observatory on Oct 2 and he compared satellite images from Sept 20 and 29 to show the extent of flooding along the river.According to Choudhary, the Gandak at Devghat in Nepal reached 11.94 metres on Sept 27, its highest level since the gauge station was established in the 1960s.He also said the report noted that the river crossed the highest flood level (HFL) at Bagaha in West Champaran, Dumariaghat in Gopalganj, Rewaghat in Saran and Lalganj in Vaishali.Choudhary said the state govt was maintaining a close watch on the flood situation and embankments and was focusing on rescue and relief operations in affected districts.Meanwhile, water discharge through the Valmikinagar barrage on the Gandak, Birpur barrage on the Kosi and Indrapuri barrage on the Sone had fallen to 73,400 cusecs, 80,745 cusecs and 39,307 cusecs, respectively. The Ganga was flowing above the danger level at four places, while the Kosi was above it at two places and the Bagmati and Burhi Gandak at one place each.IAF choppers drop 5,600 relief packetsTwo IAF helicopters deployed for relief operations have so far airdropped more than 5,600 packets of dry ration, weighing around 28 tonnes, in inaccessible and difficult-to-reach areas of flood-hit Saran, the disaster management department (DMD) said on Saturday.The DMD said it had approached the Union home and defence ministries for IAF helicopters following a directive from CM Samrat Choudhary. The relief operations are being supervised by Group Captain Anuj Gupta, Wing Commander Vishal Khatri, Squadron Leader Rohit Dadarwal and Flight Lieutenant Rathore Bharat Singh.abhayarpana@gmail.com
