Bihar floods: CWC issues 'red alert' on Ganga at two stations

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New Delhi: The Central Water Commission (CWC) said two stations in Bihar are in "extreme flood situation", 29 stations - 20 in Bihar, five in Uttar Pradesh, two in Assam and one each in Jharkhand, and West Bengal - are in "severe flood situation" and 20 stations - nine in Bihar, six in Uttar Pradesh, and five in Assam - are flowing in "above normal flood situation".

Inflow forecast was issued for 18 barrages and dams, of which seven are in Karnataka, four in Jharkhand, two each in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh and one in West Bengal, the CWC advisory said.

The Ganga at CWC site Hathidah in Patna district was flowing above high flood level mark with water level at 4 p.m. on Monday observed at 43.52 m and expected water level at 8 a.m. on Tuesday (August 17)  to be at 43.51 m. 

At Bhagalpur site, the river`s water level is flowing above HFL with level at 4 p.m. on Monday observed at site at 34.75 m and expected water level at 8 a.m. on Tuesday at 34.78 m.

Due to the combined effect of river runoff from Yamuna and the northern tributaries of Ganga, main Ganga continued to flow in ‘extreme flood situation’ to ‘above normal flood situation" from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh till Murshirabad in West Bengal.

Even when the Ganga is showing a ‘falling trend’ from Ghazipur to Ballia (UP), in Patna and Bhagalpur, the river is flowing in ‘extreme flood situation’ with ‘slightly rising to steady’ trend, and further downstream it is flowing in ‘severe flood situation with rising’ trend.

"Alert may be kept in districts of Ballia (UP), Patna, Munger, and Bhagalpur (Bihar), Sahibganj (Jharkhand) and Malda and Murshirabad (West Bengal)," the CWC said, according to news agency IANS.

Propagating peak inflow will further increase the water level of main Ganga stem in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal in next two to three days.

The middle reaches of the river in districts such as Badaun and Farrukhabad (UP) are in above normal flood situations.

The Ghaghra in Barabanki, Ayodhya and Ballia (UP) and Siwan and Saran (Bihar) districts are flowing in "above normal" to "severe flood situations with rising trend". The Rapti is flowing in "above normal to severe flood situations" in Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar and Gorakhpur districts (UP). Sone and Punpun are flowing in severe flood situation in Patna.

"Currently, the flood originated in tributaries of Yamuna last week is passing through Ganga and it may take another three to four days to pass through completely; in such situation further runoff created due to intense rainfall in the catchments of north tributaries of Ganga may not stream into Ganga easily. The flooding situation in districts such as Ballia (UP), Saran, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Vaishali, and Katihar (Bihar) may get accentuated," the CWC warned.

For Brahmaputra and its tributaries in Assam, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh & Meghalaya, the IMD has predicted very heavy rains in the catchment for next three to four days and hence suggested, an alert may be kept in north West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, mainly in districts Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Baksa, Nalbari, and Karimganj (Assam) and East Khasi hills (Meghayala).

Alert also to be kept in the basins of Champabati, Aie, Gurang, Manas, Teesta, Raidak, Jaldhaka, Rangpochu, Rangit, Torsa, Beki, Pagladiya, Puthimari, Subansiri, Disang, Siang, Simsang, Digaru, and Myntdu rivers and in all other tributaries of Brahmaputra, it said.

Currently, due to rainfall in the past 3 to 4 days, rivers of the Brahmaputra basin viz. Jia-Bharali in Sonitpur district, Sankosh in Golokganj, and Brahmaputra in Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sonitpur, and Dhubri are flowing in "above normal to severe flood situations".

The CWC advisory also mentioned of a flash flood risk issued by the IMD over few watersheds and neighbourhoods of north costal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, adjoining Odisha, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh met sub-divisions.