A river regulation zone (RRZ) notification should be top priority for the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to stop annual flooding of rivers in the sub-continent.

In Orissa, the state government has had to evacuate nearly one lakh residents from low-lying areas with floods having affecting 2,550 villages and 13 towns. This year alone has seen major floods in the state of UP, Punjab, Bihar, Assam and Manipur with major rivers, including Ganga, Sutlej, Kosi and Brahmaputra rivers, flowing in spate.

Thirty people died in the last three days as the Ganga river flooded over half a dozen districts including Bhagalpur, Purnea and Katihar, with 10 deaths in Bhagalpur alone.

More than 70,000 families are facing the wrath of the turbulent Ganga in Bihar's Bhagalpur district.
On Sunday afternoon, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who conducted an aerial survey of the areas ravaged by the river, however, told journalists here that “flood waters were receding” and that no major embankment had been breached.

Many parts of the flood-prone north Bihar are currently under a flood scare as several rivers have witnessed an alarming rise in their water levels in the past few days, setting off a quickened erosion of large portions of the river banks and making people scared.

Heavy rains in the catchments areas of Nepal and adjoining areas for the last three days have led to water levels rising in north Bihar rivers, particularly the turbulent Kosi and Gandak rivers.

Leaving nothing to chance, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has formed Flood Fighting Forces (FFF) to identify vulnerable points and provide technical advice to officials concerned during floods amid indications that the state is set to get a normal monsoon this year after two consecutive years of drought.

The World Bank has offered to Kosi flood relief beneficiaries an incentive that is expected to put the reconstruction process on fast track: rebuild your houses in six months and get toilets and solar lights worth Rs 7,300 free of cost.

The offer stands for 1,00,00 beneficiaries under the $259 million Bihar Kosi Recovery Project started in collaboration with Bihar government recently.