Nepal drops plan to blast debris blocking the mouth of river
Patna : The Bihar government decided to withdraw alert in six of nine districts on Monday as the flood threat receded after the Nepal government decided against a blast to open the mouth of the blocked Bhote Kosi, a tributary of Kosi river.
The Principal Secretary of the Disaster Management Department, Vyasji, said the Nepal government would release water in a regulated way through holes created in the artificial lake instead of going in for a blast.
Hence, the increased inflow of water in Kosi into Indian side would be manageable, he said.
“Now alerts would be in place in only Supual, Saharsa and Madhepura districts which would face the gush of water,” Vyasji said.
The evacuation process in six districts of Kosi area would be stopped. Those still coming on their own to relief camps would, however, not be turned down.
The six districts where alert has been withdrawn are Khagaria, Araria, Madhubani, Bhagalpur, Purnia and Darbhanga.
Five columns of army would continue to stay in Supual, Saharsa and Madhepura districts.
So will be personnel of National Disaster Response Force and state officials engaged in evacuation and relief work.
Earlier in the day, Vyasji said there was report of no blast of debris in Nepal for only Monday, which entailed that there was a 24-hour respite in the flood threat in nine Bihar districts.
There was no rainfall during the day in Nepal as forecast. Had it rained, it would have led to further accumulation of water in Bhote Kosi at Jure in Sindhupaehok district, which is about 100 km from Kathmandu and 200 km from Bihar-Nepal border.
“There has been reports from the Central Water Commission of Nepal that water level is receding at the rate of 3 inch per hour in the blocked Bhote Kosi,” he said adding there had, however, been conflicting reports about the depth of the lake caused due to the landslide. Initial reports put the depth at 80 m but subsequent reports suggested it could be 40m to 60 m. The Indian team that had gone to the spot could only make an aerial survey of the spot.
