Over 100 villages flooded in Bihar as river breaches embankment

October 6th, 2009 HYDERABAD - The flood situation in Andhra Pradesh improved Tuesday after killing 52 people, with water inflows coming down at the Prakasam barrage across the Krishna river and providing some respite to Vijayawada city and over 200 villages inundated downstream. Though the river breached its embankment at two places in Krishna and Guntur districts flooding about 30 villages, officials said there was no major threat to the embankment.

September 8th, 2009 PATNA - Heavy rains have led to flash floods in nearly 100 villages in the districts of Gaya, Nalanda, Jehanabad and Nawada in Bihar, officials said here Tuesday. The areas were drought hit just over a month ago.

August 29th, 2009 PATNA - The flood situation in Bihar further worsened on Saturday as Kosi River continued to unleash its fury in several districts, pushing the death toll to 52. According to officials, 12 fresh deaths were reported from Purnia, four from Sitamarhi, three from Saharsa and two each from Madhubani and Darbhanga.

August 4th, 2009 PATNA - Around 50,000 people are still stranded in flood-hit Bihar though the Bagmati river, which breached its embankment and inundated nearly 200 villages in Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts, has started to recede. Officials have intensified rescue work to help the 200,000 people affected by the flood.

August 3rd, 2009 PATNA - An MP of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) Monday demanded removal of state Water Resources Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav following a breach in the embankment of Bagmati river in Sitamarhi district which inundated nearly 200 villages and affected over 200,00 people. "The state water resources minister must be removed for his failure to protect the newly constructed embankment and the breach in it that badly put thousands of people in distress," Ejaz Ali, a Rajya Sabha MP of the party, said.

August 2nd, 2009 PATNA - A day after a breach in the embankment of Bagmati river in Bihar's Sitamarhi district flooded nearly 200 villages and left nearly 100,000 people homeless, the political blame game has begun with the opposition Sunday holding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar responsible for the floods. "The breach in the Bagmati embankment was the result of the state government's negligence.

August 2nd, 2009 PATNA - Thousands of people have been rendered homeless in Bihar's Sitamarhi district after the Bagmati river breached its embankment, flooding nearly 200 villages. Those stranded in villages are living under the open skies without food and drinking water, waiting to be rescued.

August 1st, 2009 PATNA - At least one woman was drowned as nearly 200 villages were flooded in Bihar's Sitamarhi district after the Bagmati river breached its embankment early Saturday, officials said. Many villages in the state's Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts were also inundated.

July 28th, 2009 PATNA - A record water discharge into the Kosi river from Nepal has revived fears of a repeat of last year's devastating floods in Bihar. The state government has sounded a high alert as the increasing water levels pose a threat to the river's embankment, officials said Tuesday.

July 10th, 2009 PATNA - Fearing a repeat of last year's devastating floods, the Bihar government has requested Nepal to deploy armed security forces on embankments of the Kosi river to ensure that there is no breach, officials here said Friday. In a letter to the Nepal government, Bihar's department of water resources has highlighted the need for deployment of security forces to ensure the safety of the embankments on the river that is already in spate.

July 7th, 2009 PATNA - The work is in progress on the eroded embankment of the river Kosi in Madhubani district of Bihar. The half-a-kilometre erosion has taken place even before monsoon showers have touched the river.

July 3rd, 2009 PATNA - Major rivers in north Bihar, especially the Kosi, Gandak, Budhi and Bagmati, are in spate following heavy rains in their catchment areas and are posing a threat of floods, officials said Friday. With heavy rainfall recorded in the catchments areas in neighbouring Nepal, the water levels of these rivers have been rising to dangerous levels for the last two days.

July 1st, 2009 PATNA - The fear of a repeat of last year's devastating floods is haunting thousands of people in Bihar following a record water discharge into the Kosi river from Nepal that is posing a threat to its embankment, officials said Wednesday. In view of the panic among people in Supaul, Madhepura, Purnea, Saharsa and Araria districts, the state government has alerted engineers associated with the Kosi embankment and asked them to keep a close watch round-the-clock, an official of the water resources department said.

June 11th, 2009 KATHMANDU - The Bihar government Thursday sent its Minister of Water Resources Bijendra Prasad Yadav to southern Nepal to inspect the repair of the breached embankment of Himalayan river Kosi known as the "sorrow of Bihar". A joint inspection of the repair of the breached embankment of the river in Sunsari district was carried out by the Indian minister, who was accompanied by the principal secretary in Bihar's department of water resources, Ajay Nayak, and the Indian ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood.

December 23rd, 2008 PATNA - A day after a threat was received to blow up the coffer dam under construction near the Kusaha embankment, the Nepal government has beefed up security at the site and assured protection to the officials from Bihar posted there, officials said Wednesday. 'The Nepal government has tightened security around the coffer-dam following the threat,' a government official told IANS here.