Ganga at Gandhi Ghat hits 50.57 metres as floods reach 2.24 million in Bihar

The Ganga at Gandhi Ghat in Patna rose to 50.57 metres on 6-7 September, five centimetres above the previous highest flood level of 50.52 metres set in August 2016. Bihar's Disaster Management Department said about 22.42 lakh people, 2.24 million, were affected across 12 districts, 70 blocks and 368 gram panchayats.

The Water Resources Department recorded new peaks at more than one Patna-area gauge. At Pandarak the river stood at 43.92 metres, 19 centimetres above the 2021 mark. At Danapur it was 52.63 metres, two centimetres above the old high. At Banka Ghat it was 49.47 metres, three centimetres over the record. Downstream Hathidah was on a watch list for a possible breach of its own high in one to three days.

By 10 a.m. on 7 September the department said Gandhi Ghat had eased to 50.40 metres after touching about 50.58 metres. Hathidah had come off a high of 43.52 metres to 43.50 metres. Sultanganj in Bhagalpur, further down, was at 36.72 metres, three centimetres below its record of 36.75 metres. The crest is moving east.

Which rivers and which districts

The 12 districts on the evening list were Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Buxar, Samastipur, Munger, Katihar, Lakhisarai and Arwal. Other gauges above danger included the Gandak at Dumariaghat and Hajipur, the Kosi at Baltara and Kursela, the Budhi Gandak at Khagaria, the Punpun at Sripalpur, the Bagmati at Benibad and the Ghaghra at Darauli.

Heavy rain in Bihar and Jharkhand, and water coming down feeder rivers from Nepal, filled the system. State rainfall in September was reported at 69.1 millimetres, 55 percent above normal. The Punpun and Dardha added local volume around Patna.

Train traffic on the Patna-Gaya section stopped after Punpun water touched the girder of bridge number 21 near Punpun Ghat station, the span between Punpun and Parsa Bazar. That is a concrete cut in a commuter and long-distance corridor, not only a rural inundation story.

What the boats are doing

Authorities listed 27 State Disaster Response Force teams and seven National Disaster Response Force teams. More than 858 boats were in use for evacuation and supply. One relief camp held 326 people. That last number is small against 2.24 million affected. Most of those counted as affected are in villages and diara land that have taken water but have not been moved into camps.

Warnings remain in force for Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar as the high water travels downstream. The Gandhi Ghat record is a Patna fact. The operational problem for the next 72 hours is whether Hathidah and Sultanganj set records of their own, and whether the Patna-Gaya line stays closed.

Bihar floods on this scale are not new. A five-centimetre pass of a ten-year-old high at the capital gauge is new. It tells boat teams and railway engineers the same thing: the river has used all the room that the 2016 mark was supposed to describe, and the extra water is still moving east toward Bhagalpur and Katihar.