Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, conducted an on-ground inspection of flood-hit West Champaran, arriving by helicopter at PM SHRI Government Plus-2 High School, Bathna, at approximately 12:02 pm IST to assess the scale of the crisis and review the state's relief and rescue operations.

Ground Assessment at Bathna

After landing, Choudhary was briefed by senior administrative officials on the flood situation and the arrangements in place for affected communities. Senior officials — including the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Dr Sanjay Jaiswal — had arrived at Bathna ahead of the Chief Minister. Choudhary inspected the newly-constructed helipad, security arrangements, and the flood relief shelter on site.

Tour of Flood-Hit Villages

From Bathna, Choudhary travelled through Machhargaon to Bankatwa, and subsequently visited severely affected areas including Shivrajpur by SDRF boat. During the boat tour, he directly assessed the difficulties being faced by stranded and displaced residents. He later returned to the Bathna relief shelter to review available facilities, interacted with flood victims, heard their grievances, and assured them that the administration would move quickly to address their concerns. Relief materials were distributed among affected residents during the visit.

Record Gandak Levels Trigger Embankment Failure

The flood situation in West Champaran has intensified dramatically following a sharp rise in the Gandak River, which reached an all-time high of 91.25 metres at the Bagaha gauge — 0.35 metres above the previous record of 90.90 metres set in 2024. According to the Water Resources Department, a massive 5,43,500 cusecs of water was released from the Valmikinagar Gandak Barrage at 6 am on 28 September. The discharge remained above 5 lakh cusecs for 13 hours and above 4 lakh cusecs for 32 hours, placing extraordinary pressure on downstream embankments.

The Champaran embankment was breached at two locations during the night of 28–29 September: at Khairatwa in Bagaha-1 block and Fuliyakhad in Bairiya block. Emergency protection and repair teams from the Water Resources Department and the district administration have been deployed at both breach points.

Embankment Strengthening Pledged

Chief Minister Choudhary stated that comprehensive surveys of the Gandak and Kosi rivers were already underway, and that the findings would be used to identify and reinforce vulnerable embankment stretches, making them more durable and permanent. Administrative and police personnel remained deployed across the stretch from Bathna to Shivrajpur as part of the continuing relief and rescue effort.

With the Gandak touching historic levels and two embankment breaches already recorded, attention will now turn to whether the promised infrastructure overhaul can be fast-tracked before the next flood season.