In Bihar an alert has been sounded by the state government on Saturday as over three lakh cusec of water entered Sone river following heavy rainfall in Jharkhand. The government asked people living along the river bank to vacate their huts and houses and not to venture into the river.

“There has been very heavy rainfall close to Daltonganj in Palamu district of Jharkhand. Disaster Management Department's Officer on Special Duty Vipin Kumar Rai said that water is now moving through Koel river towards Sone and he is expecting around 3 lakh cusec water to reach Indrapuri barrage in Rohats district in Bihar on Saturday night.

As a result the water level in Sone river may shoot up suddenly and endanger the people living close to it or those who have settled in parts of the river bed. The alert encompasses Aurangabad, Rohtas, Arwal and Bhojpur districts through which Sone passes in the state.

However, Mr Rai clarified that the alert is not about flood and there is no reason for people staying in the four districts to panic. Sone flows through the southern parts of Bihar and merges in the Ganga at Koilwar in Bhojpur district.