The Crisis Management Committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth is meeting in New Delhi this morning to review the flood situation in Bihar following landslide and blockage in Kosi river which originates in Nepal. The flood situation arised due to sudden release of water in the river following blockage due to a landslide.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed concern over the situation and directed all possible help to Bihar government and the Himalayan nation. In a statement, Home Ministry said that eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force and four teams of the State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into service. An additional 7 teams of the NDRF are being mobilized from West Bengal.

Bihar government has issued a high alert cautioning several northern districts of imminent floods due to a drastic rise in water level in Kosi. It has ordered immediate evacuation in eight districts due to the imminent floods. Landslides in the upper reaches of Bhote Kosi, around 100 kilometres beyond Kathmandu have blocked the course of Sunkoshi river, the main river in Nepal. According to Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs, the water level has risen to above 130 metres.

The Nepalese Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee met in Kathmandu and asked the government to declare the areas downstream of the blocked Sunkoshi river, from Jure of Sindhupalchok to Nepal-India border as a crisis-hit region as the threat of outburst floods looms large.