PURNEA, Sept. 2 -- Nepal floods have started taking a toll on southeastern Bihar, with a surge in Kosi and Ganga rivers inundating several villages in Bhagalpur and Khagaria districts.The impact was clear on Tuesday morning when the 100-year-old Chaiti Durga Temple collapsed and submerged into the swollen Ganga at the Raghopur embankment in Bhagalpur's Kharik block, officials said. Severe erosion in the area has also put the historic Thana Bihpur-Mahadevpur railway line at risk. Bhagalpur district magistrate (DM) Alankrita Pandey, who rushed to the erosion site on Tuesday, said that severe erosion and embankment breaches in the area emerged after the Ganga changed its course due to heavy silt accumulation and a sudden surge in water pressure. She said that a temple was washed away in the Raghopur area falling under the Kharik block. "The railway track is also at risk but we are trying our best to protect it," she said while cautioning people against the floods. "We appeal to the people to move to safer places and the district administration is prepared to meet any eventuality." She added, "Relief camps with community kitchens will be opened. I assure that the flood victims will have no problems in relief camps." Roughly 250 meters of the Raghopur zamindari dam has merged into the Ganga leaving cut points with deep trenches up to 16 meters deep, officials said. The swollen Ganga continues to exert intense water pressure along a 500-meter stretch near the Brahm Baba Sthan and the Chaiti Durga temple, putting the adjacent railway tracks at risk of collapsing. "The flood-fighting teams are at work. Given the intensity of the river's current, safeguarding the railway lines has become increasingly difficult," an engineer at site told HT. Local authorities have ordered the evacuation of shops and residences along the vulnerable railway line near Mahadevapura Ghat to ensure public safety. The Water Resources Department (WRD) has launched emergency flood-fighting operations, deploying sandbags and stabilising agents along critical pressure points, as district officials monitor the site round-the-clock. Retired chief engineer Sahjanand Singh and engineer Prakash Kumar, who arrived from Patna, conducted an investigation using modern machines. "The water flow is so fast that measuring the full depth downstream remains technically challenging," they said. Admitting to initial mismanagement, engineer-in-chief (WRD) Warun Kumar stated that reinforcement work is now proceeding on a war footing with significantly increased resources. "But our main focus is to save railway tracks," he said, adding, "If water reached there, the condition may have been out of control." Deputy chief minister and water resources minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Tuesday ordered senior officials, including the WRD Secretary, to station themselves at the flood-affected Raghopur site in Bhagalpur to oversee erosion-control efforts. The minister said the situation was grim as the Ganga had changed its course and there is heavy erosion taking place at many places. He said that the department had under taken anti-erosion works at the same place where there was heavy pressure of water last year and the department is keeping a high vigil on the evolving situation due to the rise of water level in Ganga at Bhagalpur. "The WRD officials are monitoring the flood situation in Bhagalpur and I will be also visiting the site where heavy erosion has taken place," said the minister....