As the expected sudden release of massive volume of water from the blocked Kali Gandaki river in Nepal loomed, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called a high-level meeting of the disaster management department officials over the emergency situation.
“A high alert has been issued in the state after the landslide in Nepal. Precautionary measures have been completed. We have asked district magistrates and water resources department officials to keep themselves ready,” Kumar said.
The CM said a huge piece of a mountain had fallen in the Kali Gandaki river due to landslide in Myagdi district of Nepal. This has obstructed the flow of the river and formed an artificial lake there.
“It is suspected that the flow of water will be very fastonce the landslide blocking the river route is removed. We have estimated the expected flow and all precautionary measures have been taken,” he said.
Kumar said the latest information revealed that the loss of lives and property will not be as much as estimated earlier.
The massive landslide, which has blocked the Kali Gandaki, also known as Narayani and Gandak, has happened at a place near Beni Bazar in Myagdi district. It is around 140 kilometres northwest from Kathmandu.
The river flows through several districts in Nepal before entering India near the borders of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. It meanders and weaves its way through West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran districts to join Ganga near Hajipur.
A similar situation had occurred last year in August after a landslide over Bhote Kosi, a major tributary of KosiRiver in Nepal and had led to formation of a massive water body. The state was put on high alert for floods at that time.
The situation was diffused after the Indian Army personnel helped their counterparts in the neighbouring country to gradually breach the blockade and release the accumulated water in a measured manner.
Image: A boy clears rubble from his home during a landslide after Tuesday’s earthquake at SingatiVillage, in Dolakha, Nepal. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
