The Gandak River in Bihar has recorded an all-time high water level of 91.25 metres at the Bagaha gauge site following intense, short-duration rainfall in the river basin in Nepal.
According to an official release issued by the Water Resources Department, a discharge of 5,43,500 cusecs was released from the Gandak Barrage at Valmikinagar at 6 am on September 28. The water is currently flowing through downstream districts including West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali.
The discharge from the Gandak Barrage remained above 5 lakh cusecs for 13 hours and above 4 lakh cusecs for 32 hours, the department said.
Significant rainfall was also recorded on September 26 and 27 in Bihar’s border districts along the Gandak River, including West Champaran, East Champaran and Gopalganj. This resulted in the river’s water level downstream of the Gandak Barrage already being elevated, according to the release.
The Water Resources Department said that although the discharge from the Gandak Barrage at Valmikinagar was slightly lower than the peak discharge of 5,62,500 cusecs recorded in 2024, the river registered a new all-time high water level of 91.25 metres at the Bagaha gauge site.
This was 0.35 metres higher than the previous peak of 90.90 metres recorded in 2024.
The high discharge has put considerable pressure on the river embankments, resulting in seepage, piping and overtopping at several locations. So far, 169 points affected by seepage or piping have been secured through immediate remedial measures, the department said.
The rising water level also caused damage to the Champaran embankment on the left bank of the Gandak River in West Champaran district at two locations during the night of September 28-29. The affected locations are Khairatwa village in Bagaha-1 block and Fuliyakhad village in Bairiya block.
In addition, the right-bank embankment of the Gandak River in Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh was damaged at one location.
Teams from the Water Resources Department and the West Champaran district administration are carrying out necessary flood-control measures at the affected sites.
Field engineers are continuing flood-fighting operations as the embankments remain under significant pressure. Four teams led by Executive Engineers were dispatched from the department’s headquarters during the night to Bagaha, Bettiah, Motihari and Gopalganj.
Additional engineers had already been deployed to vulnerable locations in anticipation of any sudden increase in water discharge.
The department said water levels are showing a declining trend upstream while continuing to rise downstream. Senior officials are closely monitoring the situation. (ANI)
