Centre has deployed National Disaster Response Forces, Air Force Medical Teams and Naval Divers to protect lives and properties of the people of Bihar following floods in Kosi river arising out of a landslide in Nepal.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Sunday, Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed all possible help should be available to check the disaster. He said Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth has chaired three emergency meetings so far to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Bihar government has ordered forcible evacuation of people living in the space between the river Kosi and its embankments in nine districts of the state as the the danger of flood looming large in the Kosi belt along Bihar-Nepal border.

The move follows the discharge of 1.25 lakh cusecs of water after the Nepalese Army conducted two low-intensity blasts to partially remove the landslide debris blocking Bhote Kosi, one of the tributaries of Kosi.

The release of water has raised the water level in the Kosi river in Bihar. Disaster Management Department Special Secretary Anirudh Kumar told reporters in Patna that the government has invoked the provisions of the Disaster Management Act to initiate forcible evacuation of population living in the danger zone of Kosi.

He said that as per the estimates around 4.25 lakh persons living around Kosi in the state could be affected if the river swells drastically.