Ganga at Sultanganj breaks its 2021 flood mark as 35.89 lakh people are hit in Bihar

The Ganga at Sultanganj in Bhagalpur district rose to 36.80 metres at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 September, and later reports put the day's reading at 36.81 metres. Both figures sit above the previous highest flood level of 36.75 metres, recorded on 17 August 2021. Bihar's Disaster Management Department said the trend was then stable. It still issued an alert for stretches downstream.

By Tuesday night the department's count was 35.89 lakh people affected across 14 districts: Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Buxar, Samastipur, Munger, Katihar, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Purnea and Arwal. Earlier in the day the same desk had published 34.31 lakh people in 13 districts and 480 gram panchayats. The extra district and the extra lakh arrived as field reports closed. Some live tallies on Wednesday spoke of 62 blocks and 491 panchayats.

Eight rivers were above danger level at multiple gauges: the Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Budhi Gandak, Punpun, Bagmati and Ghaghra, with the eighth named in state briefs as part of the same monsoon system. Specific marks included the Gandak at Dumriaghat and Hajipur, the Kosi at Baltara and Kursela, the Budhi Gandak at Khagaria, and the Ganga at Digha, Gandhi Ghat, Hathidah, Bhagalpur, Kahalgaon and Munger. In Patna the Punpun rose 9 centimetres in 24 hours and at Sripalpur ran about 2.95 metres above danger. At Gandhi Ghat the Ganga was about 1.61 metres above danger. At Kahalgaon it was about 1.63 metres above.

A boat carrying 11 people capsized on the Ganga in Vaishali. Officials said one person died, one remained missing, and nine were rescued. Separate district notes said five people had died in Patna district, two in Danapur and three in Maner. Families of two of those dead had received Rs 4 lakh each; the other payments were described as one or two days away.

Relief numbers from the department: 432 community kitchens, 14 relief camps, about 1.29 lakh polythene sheets, 22,900 dry-ration packets, 1,832 boats on evacuation and transport duty, and 3,142 quintals of animal fodder. September rainfall in the state had reached 79.6 mm by 8 September, 31 percent above normal, according to the Bihar Meteorological Service Centre.

Sultanganj matters because it is a control point for water heading toward Kahalgaon, Munger and the eastern districts. A 6-centimetre breach of a five-year record does not sound large until it is spread across a flat floodplain with 35 lakh people already in the water. Khagaria villages remaining submerged is the image that sits behind the statewide total.

The next useful reading is not another round number of affected people. It is whether Sultanganj stays at 36.81 metres or climbs, and whether the Punpun at Sripalpur starts to fall. Those two gauges decide if Wednesday's kitchens and boats are a peak effort or a mid-event one.