PATNA/BETTIAH, Sept. 30 -- The Gandak river punched fresh holes in its embankments early on Tuesday, compounding an already severe flood emergency across West Champaran and adjoining stretches of East Champaran and Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district. A five-metre section of the left Champaran embankment gave way near Phuliakhad (also called Phulia Khad) in Bairiya block of West Champaran around the early hours, while a ring bundh collapsed near Pandey Tola in Sareya panchayat of Areraj block in East Champaran at about 3 am. These followed the collapse of roughly 10 metres of the same embankment near Khairatwa village under Chakhni Rajwatiya panchayat in Bagaha-1 block late Monday night. Officials of the water resources department (WRD) attributed the failures to seepage, piping and overtopping under sustained high pressure. Teams from the department and district administrations were rushed to the sites. In West Champaran, more than 12,000 people were affected across riverside panchayats. About 1,600 families from ten tolas between Bherihari and Valmikinagar in Bagaha-2 block, and another 1,500 residents from localities around Bagaha town, faced inundation. Floodwater submerged stretches of NH-727 between Valmikinagar and Bagaha, forcing many to spend a second night on higher ground or the Dhanaha-Ratwal road. Principal secretary, disaster management department (DMD), Santosh Kumar Mall said that one company each of the NDRF and SDRF have been despatched to the affected areas. "Two companies each of NDRF and SDRF, which were already staying Champaran districts to meet any eventuality," said Mall, adding that additional community kitchen were opened to provide relief to the affected people. The surge originated from intense rainfall in Nepal's catchment. Valmikinagar barrage recorded a peak discharge of 5.43 lakh cusecs at 4 am on 28 September-slightly below last year's corresponding high-remaining above 5 lakh cusecs for 13 hours and above 4 lakh cusec for 32 hours. By 2 pm on Tuesday the downstream discharge had moderated to 1.72 lakh cusecs and was still falling, according to the WRD's latest bulletin. Yet the river at Bagaha had already set a new high of 91.25 metres, 0.35 metres above the previous record. Fresh data released by the flood management cell this afternoon painted a mixed but still tense picture across Bihar's major rivers. The Kosi at Birpur barrage was steady at 1.20 lakh cusecs after earlier declines. The Sone at Indrapuri barrage, however, had turned upward again, recording 1.56 lakh cusecs at 2 pm after falling earlier in the day. The Gandak was reported flowing 2 metre above the danger level at Dumariaghat in Gopalganj and about 30cm above the danger level at Rewaghat in Muzaffarpur. The river was still maintaining a rising trend. The Bagmati remained above danger level at several sites-most notably 1.10 metres above at Kataunjha-and continued to press embankments in Sitamarhi, Sheohar and Muzaffarpur. The Lalbakeya stood 0.35 metres above danger at Gowabari. Adding to the anxiety of WRD officials is the behaviour of the Ganga itself. At Gandhi Ghat in Patna the river crossed the danger mark of 48.60 metres to stand at 49.01 metres by 2 p.m., rising 0.57 metres in 24 hours. At Hathidah it inched just above the red line of 41.76 metres to 41.77 metres. With the Gandak still elevated and the Sone once more rising, the Ganga's reduced capacity to absorb the excess volume flowing into it from its northern tributaries raises the prospect of prolonged waterlogging and slower drainage in the lower reaches. Field engineers reported that 169 points of seepage and piping had already been secured. Four additional teams of executive engineers were despatched overnight to Bagaha, Bettiah, Motihari and Gopalganj. An official order issued on Tuesday assigned extra supervisory responsibility for the Champaran embankment and its associated ring bundh sections to the chief engineer (flood control & drainage), Muzaffarpur, and the chief engineer (irrigation creation), Motihari, reflecting the gravity of the pressure on those works....