Bihar, West Bengal Rivers cross highest flood levels

In East India rivers at 14 sites have breached the old Highest Flood Levels (HFL) of which 9 sites are in Bihar, 4 in Odisha and 1 West Bengal, says an article published by the Delhi-based South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP).

In 2020, the south-west monsoon season when rainfall was 8.74% above normal, rivers reached new Highest Flood Levels (HFLs) at least at 37 locations across India, as per information available to SANDRP. Maximum 13 such instances come from Central and East India, each. Five instances happened in South India, three in North India and two in North East India, the article mentions.
Floods in Bihar and West Bengal directly contribute to Floods in Bangladesh as most rivers flow into the country from those two Indian states. This year the Ganges, Teesta and Karotoa continue to remain in spate even in the first week of October damaging crops, dwelling houses and infrastructure.
The SANDRP article published on Saturday says: In Bihar River Gandak, at Dumariaghat Level Forecasting site crossed the HFL by 0.35 metre and it remained above the old HFL level for about 50 hours. Gandak River also breached HFL at Rewaghat Level Forecasting site by 0.05 metre and it remained above old HFL for about six hours. The Lalganj Level Forecasting site on Gandak was also breached by 0.12 metre and the river stayed over old HFL for about 18 hours. This site was again breached in late September.
At Belsand Level Monitoring site, the Bagmati River breached the HFL by 0.08 metre and it remained above the HFL for about 24 hours. The old HFL date is not available. The Moujabadi Level Monitoring site on Mahananda was also breached by 0.27 metre with the river flowing over HFL for about 32 hours.
At Rosera Level Forecasting site river Burhi Gandak crossed the old HFL by 0.21 metre and the river was forecasted to stay over old HFL for about 30 hours. The Burhi Gandak river at Sakra Level Forecasting site crossed the old HFL by 0.53 metre and remained above the HFL for more than 130 hours. Bagmati river at Bishunpur (CWC earlier listed this on Adhwara River) first crossed the HFL on July 23, 2020 and remained above HFL for about 15 days, the article adds.
– GreenWatch News Desk