BETTIAH/PATNA, Oct. 2 -- Amid the recent spell of rain in Nepal and Uttar Pradesh and continuous discharge of water from the Gandak barrage, the flood situation in Bihar worsened on Thursday after right Saran embankment in Saran's Panapur block and a ring bund under the Tirhut Main Embankment in Sahebganj block of Muzaffarpur breached under intense water pressure, affecting around 342,000 people across six districts, officials said. Chief minister Samrat Choudhary said the flood situation in Bihar was grim and the entire administration in affected districts were keeping a close vigil on the embankments and the help of Indian Air Force has been sought for relief measures. "The next 48 hours is crucial. This time, the major rivers be it Ganga, Gandak and Sone have witnessed record water level despite 32% of deficit rains in the state. Government is all committed to provide relief measures to flood victims," the chief minister said, after visiting Ganga path in Patna to assess the rising water level in Ganga. At Panapur block in Saran, dry rations were air dropped from choppers to villagers who have been marooned in the flash floods. According to officials, 124 panchayats across 30 blocks in six districts - West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur - have been affected by flooding following breaches at nine locations along embankments. Of these, four breaches occurred along the Champaran embankment in West Champaran, while Gopalganj and East Champaran reported one breach each, and Saran and Muzaffarpur reported two. Sharing the information, Water Resources Department's secretary Chandra Shekhar Singh said an embankment over the Saran embankment collapsed at Chintaman Dhala Panapur block in Saran district, approximately 30 km upstream of Wednesday's breach, while a ring bundh collapsed under the Tirhut main embankment in Sahebganj block of Muzaffarpur under intense water pressure on Thursday morning. "In Saran's Panapur block, due to extreme water pressure, the sluicegate structure was damaged and could not be saved. However, our main embankment in Muzaffarpur is intact, while a ring bund has collapsed in Sahebganj block of the district," said Singh, adding the water level is some parts namely Bagaha and Dumariaghat has begun receding, though the water level remained around 22 cm, 36 cm and 22 cm above previous all-time HFL in Dumariaghat, Revaghat and Lalganj in Vaishali respectively. Following the collapse in Saran, water has begun gushing in Satjora, Karchhulia and Bhagwanpur panchayats in Saran district with the possibility of road connectivity being disrupted, while parts of Jaimal Dumari panchayat was affected by the water inundation. "After the collapse of a ring bund in Paru, this is the second breach reported in Muzaffarpur district. We are monitoring the situation and 36 community kitchens are presently in operation in the district," said Kumar Gaurav, district magistrate (DM), Muzaffarpur. However, Saran's district magistrate (DM) Vaibhav Shrivastav put the number of the affected people at 170,000 lakh in the district. Local representatives in Panapur whom HT contacted described the situation pathetic, expressing their inability to speak further. However, some flood affected people in Bagaha-1 block who had taken shelter near Nainaha Dhala on Dhanaha-Ratwal road in Bagaha subdivision heaved a sign of relief after they returned to their home on Thursday. "We still need to depend on community kitchen for meals as it would take time to restore things in house," said Nandan Khatik, a resident of ward number 2 of Nainaha village. The flood situation in other parts also remained grim. Officials said the situation remained particularly challenging as the Gandak stayed above its previous highest flood level (HFL) at several locations even though the water in the Gandak river has begun receding in some parts. "At Dumariaghat (in Gopalganj) and Bagaha (in West Champaran), the water level is receding rapidly. But, at Rewaghat (Muzaffarpur), the water level is still flowing above the HFL, and the rate of water receding remains slow. Lalganj too demonstrates a similar situation, where the water level is still above the HFL and is receding only marginally. In the meantime, water level has risen flowing the travel of water from Ghaghara and Uttar Pradesh reached the river system. At Gandhi Ghat in Patna, the Ganga is currently about 1.07 metre above the danger mark and as a result backflow effect is getting created with the pressure on the Gandak system," said Chandra Sekhar Singh, secretary WRD. According to the last available official record , the river stood at 89.33m at Bagaha, below its danger level of 89.40m, while it was 77.37m at Thakraha (both in West Champaran), 70.80m at Kukraha, 64.03m at Dumiaghat and 55.39m at Rewaghat - all above their respective danger levels. At 52.32m, Lalganj remained stood at highest flood level. The secretary said the backflow effect had put intense pressure on embankments in Saran, Vaishali and Muzaffarpur districts. "Seepage and piping have been reported at 40 locations. Four of them - two between Maker and Panapur on Saran embankment and two on Tirhut embankments in Muzaffarpur - are severe," the secretary said. Officials suspect that the carrying capacity of the Gandak river has been affected following the silt deposition after a recent glacial event in the Trishuli river. "After the glacier event, the water passed through the Gandak river system and as a result, the carrying capacity of the Gandak may have been affected which looks further compounded by increased volumes of water," said an official....