Patna: The flood situation in Bihar escalated significantly on Saturday after the Ganga River breached its danger mark by nearly two metres in Patna, prompting state authorities to place vulnerable districts on high alert. The Water Resources Department confirmed that water levels at the Gandhi Ghat gauge site touched 50.53 metres during the morning hours, surpassing the red line of 48.60 metres and edging past the historic peak mark of 50.52 metres to set a potential new record.
Authorities issued strict directives to district magistrates and police chiefs across riverine zones to step up surveillance and fortify vulnerable embankments. Ground teams received instructions to alert riverside communities, facilitate timely evacuations from low-lying areas, and maintain round-the-clock patrolling along the river corridor stretching from Buxar to Bhagalpur.
The deepening crisis quickly triggered sharp political friction over the efficiency of the response on the ground. Independent Member of Parliament Pappu Yadav criticised the administration’s efforts during a nighttime inspection across the Kursela-Bhagalpur belt, dismissing state relief operations as superficial. Yadav argued that displaced families were enduring acute shortages of essential supplies, including clean drinking water, infant milk, cattle feed, and emergency anti-venom for snakebite incidents. He also claimed that erratic community kitchen schedules left many without meals, noting that his team distributed food rations and direct financial aid to displaced households.
In contrast, the state government maintained that comprehensive disaster response mechanisms remain fully operational. Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary reviewed flood mitigation efforts, embankment integrity, and rescue strategies following an aerial survey across inundated diara regions. Officials were directed to ensure uninterrupted food delivery via community kitchens, register affected residents without bureaucratic delays, and keep field officers stationed on site.
To reinforce ground interventions, authorities deployed twenty-seven State Disaster Response Force squads alongside nine National Disaster Response Force teams across high-risk districts. State monitoring centres also integrated real-time surveillance feeds directly with the Chief Minister’s Dashboard to track water flow variations and oversee the dispatch of emergency assistance.
