PATNA, Oct. 1 -- After setting new highest flood levels (HFL) at four gauge stations along its course, the turbulent Gandak river breached its embankments at Maker in Saran and at Baikunthpur in Gopalganj districts on Wednesday, officials said. Earlier on Tuesday evening, the river had demolished a 20-foot portion of the Champaran embankment in Yogapatti block of Bihar's West Champaran, taking the tally of collapses to four - three of them in West Champaran alone. A vast stretch of fields and residential areas around Maker has been flooded after the swollen river washed away a portion of the main embankment. In Maker block's Haijalpur village, the right Saran embankment subsided over about eight metres overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. A flood-control gate was also damaged. Low-lying areas of Haijalpur, Parmanand Chhapra and Naukraha villages face inundation and disrupted connectivity. Local reports indicate panic across roughly a dozen villages in the vicinity as water spread rapidly into fields and settlements near Baghakol and Haijalpur. Further upstream, a ring bund known as the Bandhauli-Sheetalpur-Faizullahpur zamindari bund, near Baikunthpur in Gopalganj was demolished by the gushing current. The breach, measuring around six metres at Sheetalpur village on the right main embankment, allowed water to pour into low-lying areas of Parsauni, Sheetalpur, Pakhan and several other villages including Faizullahpur, Khomharipur, Salempur, Narwar, Bahrampur, Gambhari, Chiutaha and Banaura. Residents in affected pockets were forced onto rooftops and remaining stretches of embankment as floodwaters entered homes in multiple panchayats. Gopalganj district magistrate Sameer Saurabh, who rushed to the spot, said flood-fighting operations are underway in full swing. Teams from the water resources department (WRD) and district administrations are working round the clock to contain the flow and protect vulnerable stretches. WRD secretary Chandra Shekhar Singh, who has been camping in the region for the last few days, said the river has set new highest levels at four gauge stations, including Bagaha (West Champaran), Dumariaghat (Gopalganj), Rewaghat (Muzaffarpur) and Lalganj (Vaishali). "The flood situation has deteriorated as the river witnessed one of the highest discharges from Nepal (5.45 lakh cusec) on Monday. Local rains in northwest districts of Bihar and those in the river's catchment areas in Uttar Pradesh added to the ferocity of the river, leading to seepage in the embankments. The water in the river is not flowing through easily, as the river Ganga, which serves as the carriageway for waters from Nepal, is already in spate and flowing above the red mark at various locations," Singh said. The surge follows days of intense pressure on the embankments. The Gandak recorded a peak discharge of around 5.43-5.45 lakh cusecs at the Valmikinagar barrage, establishing a new HFL of 91.25 metres at Bagaha-0.35 metres above the previous record set in 2024. The river remained above five lakh cusecs for 13 hours and above four lakh cusecs for 32 hours, triggering widespread seepage and piping. Officials said 169 such points have been secured through emergency repairs, yet critical breaches still occurred. The flood's footprint has widened across East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Gopalganj and Saran, with more than 200 villages affected in these districts. In East Champaran alone, 15 panchayats across four blocks-Kesaria, Sangrampur, Areraj and Paharpur-have been hit, putting roughly 25,000 people at risk. In West Champaran, the Champaran embankment on the left bank suffered damage at multiple points, including Khairatwa in Bagaha-1 and Phuliyakhad in Bairia, with water spreading into fields and threatening further villages. Chief minister Samrat Choudhary and deputy CM and WRD minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary have taken a direct lead in assessing the crisis. The CM conducted an aerial survey of flood-affected areas in Vaishali, Saran, East Champaran and Gopalganj, including a detailed inspection at Dumariaghat on the East Champaran-Gopalganj border. Accompanied by the deputy CM, he reviewed water levels, embankment status and night patrolling arrangements. Officials briefed him that the Gandak was flowing about 2 metre above the danger mark at Dumariaghat and was expected to rise further. The chief minister directed continuous surveillance of vulnerable embankments, intensified relief and rescue operations, and close coordination among district administrations, the State Disaster Response Force and the National Disaster Response Force. He has also surveyed Champaran from the air as waters continued to rise. The Gandak has a long history of embankment failures under extreme pressure from Nepal-origin discharges. In recent days alone, stretches of the Champaran embankment breached at three locations in West Champaran. Historically, the river has repeatedly overtopped or broken its banks in Gopalganj, East Champaran and Saran during major monsoon surges, most notably in years of exceptional discharge such as 2020 and earlier decades, when breaches inundated dozens of villages and disrupted major highways. Authorities have issued alerts to residents in low-lying areas and are pressing ahead with sandbagging, bamboo piling and continuous monitoring. With the Ganga itself running above danger levels at several points, the next 24-48 hours remain critical for the embankments that still hold....