Bihar's Ambitious Plan to Combat Floods with New Barrages

The Bihar government plans to build barrages on six rivers across six districts to mitigate recurring floods. With financial backing from the Centre, the project aims to manage water resources and rejuvenate rivers. This includes the Kosi-Mechi inter-linking project and the revival of other major rivers.

The Bihar government is set to construct barrages on several rivers in six districts to alleviate the recurring flood problem in the northern part of the state adjoining Nepal, according to Water Resources Department Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.

The proposed barrages will be built on the Gandak, Masan, Kamala, Kosi, and Mahananda rivers. Chaudhary mentioned that the state government started finalizing DPRs for constructing more barrages in East Champaran, West Champaran, Sitamarhi, Kishanganj, Madhubani, and Supaul districts as part of flood mitigation measures.

The Centre recently announced financial support of Rs 11,500 crore for Bihar to tackle flood-related issues, he said. The DPRs include barrages on Gandak at Areraj in East Champaran, on Masan in West Champaran, on Bagmati at Dheng in Sitamarhi, on Kamala at Jainagar in Madhubani, on Kosi at Dakmara in Supaul, and on Mahananda at Taiyabpur in Kishanganj. The Kosi-Mechi inter-linking project, costing Rs 6,282.32 crore, aims to provide irrigation to Seemanchal with Centre’s assistance.