While that happens, a plan is being drawn up to use helicopters to airlift Gabions, which are essentially huge heaps of heavy stones held togther in iron nets, and drop them near the breached segment. The hope is that these will help deflect some water. The Army is expected to carry out this exercise.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has mobilized about 100 boats, in addition to those available with an Army column. Each column has 100 Armymen and 10 boats. On the relief front, the green signal was today given for four more columns of the Army taking the total number to eight columns and two more helicopters taking its number to six into relief operations. The Army has pledged to provide about 4000 relief tents, of which about 500 tents would reach the affected areas by today evening, and the Red Cross is also learnt to have pledged 500 tents for the relief operations.

With over 500 boats operating in the relief operations, the state government informed the CMG that over 1.5 lakh people have been evacuated from the affected zone. While the state government has erected 110 shelters that are currently hosting over 50,000 affected people, it plans to erect several large shelters with public utilities in the next few days.

TRAGEDY CAME IN WAVES

The Kosi embankment breach, and its aftermath

20 drown after boat capsizes

Twenty people rescued by the Army are feared drowned after two boats of the 202 Engineers regiment capsized at Mirganj in Madhepura district, in the middle of the post-breach Kosi stream. The boats were carrying marooned survivors from an inundated village.

... contd.