PANIC AS KOSI BREACHES DAM, NONE INJURED

SUPAUL: The western security dam over River Kosi breached early Friday morning, causing panic in several panchayats of Supaul and Madhubani districts of Bihar. No one was injured due to the breach, officials said.

Officials were, however, carrying out assessment of property damage. The breach in Sikarhatta-Majhari dam occurred 48 hours after a village bund was washed away by the river’s strong current.

Flood control division personnel were deployed to carry out repair work, officials said, adding that the village bund will be repaired first. “A flood fighting team is plugging the village bund. Later, Sikarhatta bund will be repaired,” Supaul district magistrate Mahendra Kumar said, adding that it was a 25m breach. He appealed people not to panic as Kosi water falls into nearby Tilyuga River, ruling out the imminent danger of flood.

Flood threat looms large over Dagmara, Dighiya, Bela, Majhari, Hariyahi panchayats of Nirmali block in Supaul and Narendrapur, Rauvahi, Mainhi villages of Madhubani districts.

“The situation is normal but we have alerted over 12 panchayats to watch out for Tilyuga river overflowing,” the DM said, adding, “The Sikarhatta-Majhari dam is very old.”

Sources within the flood control division said it is not easy to repair the bund currently due to high current of Kosi river.

Meanwhile, former MLA Yaduvansh Yadav questioned the lackadaisical attitude of flood control division. “They wait for a breach so that they can make money in the name of floodfighting measures,” he alleged.