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The vagaries of the weather seem to be at their extreme in Bihar where many districts are reeling under flood while the state continues to record an overall rainfall deficit of 26 per cent, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Districts such as Patna, Vaishali, Samastipur, Bhojpur and Buxar are witnessing floods that are mainly attributed to the rising water levels in the upstream Ganga and its tributaries. The water level has soared due to heavy monsoon rainfall in the catchment areas of Nepal and north Bihar and neighbouring states in the last few days.
However, paddy farmers in other parts of the state are bracing for crop losses as insufficient rainfall is less likely to be compensated for because the southwest monsoon season is about to conclude in two weeks.
“Floodwaters submerged standing crops, inundated villages and entered several houses in a low lying riverine belt, locally known as Diara in Patna, Vaishali, Samastipur, Bhojpur and Buxar. Local administration facilitated people in shifting to high-rise places,” an official said.
The Patna administration responded to the flooding by closing about 76 government-run schools till September 21.
Meanwhile, the State Water Resources Department officials confirmed that Ganga is flowing above danger mark at few places in the state.
The water level in Ganga has been rising for the last three days. The overflowing river affected hundreds of people in Raghopur area in Vaishali, Mohiuddin Nagar and Vidhapati Nagar in Samastipur and Shahpur area in Bhojpur.
“People from dozens of villages flocked to high-rise places along with their cattles to prevent submergence,” an official from the water resources department told Down To Earth (DTE) on the condition of anonymity.
Officials of the state agriculture department told DTE that standing crops, mainly paddy, are damaged due to floods in some areas in the affected districts.
“As of September 18, Bihar has recorded 676.1 millimetres (mm) of rainfall against the normal 914.1 mm which is 238 mm less,” SK Patel, scientist, at IMD-Patna, told DTE.
The flood-prone state had recorded a 52 per cent rainfall deficit in June, 29 per cent in July and four per cent in August, according to IMD.
More than two dozen districts recorded heavy rainfall deficit including Samastipur (46 per cent), Gopalganj (40 per cent), Darbhanga (43 per cent), Madhubani (51 per cent), Muzaffarpur (50 per cent), Patna (40 per cent), Purnea (41 per cent),Saran (55 per cent), Sitamarhi (42 per cent), Vaishali (50 per cent), Sheohar (38 per cent) and Saharsa (45 per cent).
Interestingly, most of these districts are flood-prone in the state.
Patel also stated that some districts recorded normal to surplus rainfall this monsoon. “The district of Gaya recorded one per cent surplus rainfall, Aurangabad eight per cent surplus rainfall, and Sheikhpura had six per cent surplus rainfall. All three are well known drought prone located in the southern part of the state,” he said.
“Going by the trend of ongoing monsoon rains, rainfall deficit is likely to remain over 26 per cent if there is no heavy to medium rains this month. But our data suggest a weak monsoon at present in the state and there is no possibility of heavy rains in the next three to four days,” he added.
Patel explained that monsoon retreat from Rajasthan was expected to start from September 17 but was delayed due to unusual air pressure developments.
“As a result of this late departure of the monsoon from Rajasthan, Bihar may receive some rain before the final retreat begins in the state,” he said.
According to the official data maintained by IMD, Bihar recorded 760 mm rainfall against normal rainfall of 1,017 mm in 2023 and received 683 mm rainfall in 2022.
It is worth highlighting that in the last 10 years, Bihar recorded surplus rainfall only thrice — 1,050 mm rainfall in 2019, 1,272 mm in 2020 and 1,044 mm in 2021.