North Bihar is a term used for the region of
Bihar, India, which lies north of the
Ganga river.
Towns and cities
Naugachia is a sub-division in the
Bhagalpur district. It is famous for Banana farming, and known as Kelanchal of Bihar.[1]
Purnia is the headquarters of the
Purnia division and
Purnia district. It is the 2nd largest city in North Bihar by population. It is also known as "Mini Darjeeling" due to its humid climate. This city is called the Gateway of
North East India in Bihar. NH 27 also passes through the city that connects North East to the whole of
India.
Purnia Junction is the major railway of this city.
Gulabbagh agriculture market is the biggest maize market in
Asia.
Kishanganj is the headquarters of the
Kishanganj district. It is the easternmost district of Bihar. A part of this district is known as the chicken neck region of India.
Araria is the headquarters of the
Araria district.
NH 27 (Old NH57) connects Araria to other parts of the state.
Supaul is the headquarters & chief town of the
Supaul district. Supaul is set to get India's largest road bridge sharing some parts with the Madhubani district. The construction site of the bridge is 6 to 8 miles away from Supaul. A bridge on the
mighty kosi river was built in 2012 near
Nirmali in Supaul. After the inauguration of the koshi mega bridge. The bridge which was already a part of the eastern-western corridor became operational & hence completing the whole circuit of the 3507 km long Porbandar-Silchar highway, and providing direct road connectivity to cities like Lucknow & Kanpur[3]
Saharsa is the headquarters of the
Saharsa district and the
Kosi division. Saharsa is located in the Mithila region, one of the earliest centers of Brahminical civilization in India. Saharsa is considered the heart of the whole
Mithila region. It's the birthplace of many legends like
Mandana Misra,
Laxminath Gosain, Ubhai Bharti, etc. The region of Bangaon and Mahisi is one of the most civil servants producing areas.
Muzaffarpur[8][9] is the financial capital of North Bihar. It is the headquarters of the
Muzaffarpur district and
Tirhut division. All the important roadways (like NH 27, NH 28, NH 57, NH 77, NH 102) and railways (like Muzaffarpur-Hajipur, Muzaffarpur-Motihari, Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur-Samastipur) have their junction in the city.[10]
Motihari is the headquarters of the
East Champaran district.
Mahatma Gandhi launched a non-cooperation movement there. It has been announced to establish a Central University in Motihari. This would be the first nationalized University in North Bihar.[13]
Bettiah is the headquarters of the
West Champaran district. It is the westernmost district of North Bihar, and the Northernmost district of Bihar state.[14]
There is an ongoing movement in the Maithili-speaking region of Bihar for a separate
Mithila state. The capital of the state has yet to be decided, but
Begusarai,
Muzaffarpur and
Darbhanga are the most likely candidates.[15]
Economy
Agricultural economy
Agriculture is the main economic activity of the region.
The industries have generated considerable employment and have also been helpful in establishing a number of small industries, including a few cottage industries. The most important item that is manufactured in Muzaffarpur city is the railway wagon. Barauni is the prominent industrial town of North Bihar, and Bihar state, having
Barauni Refinery, Barauni Fertilizer, Barauni Carbons, a railway yard, and the
Barauni thermal power station. Hajipur is also a new emerging industrial area due to its proximity with
Patna leading to the development of an industrial area.
North Bihar is also home to majority of sugar production of Bihar and more than 20 sugar industries are located in Bihar but about a third of it is operational mostly in Champaran belt, Gopalganj, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, etc.
Rivers and floods
There are several rivers flowing through this region from north to south and merge in the
Ganges river.[16] These rivers, along with floods, bring fertile soil to the region on a yearly basis. However, sometimes government sponsored floods[clarification needed] causes loss of thousands of lives. Major rivers of North Bihar are
Mahananda,
Gandak,
Kosi,
Bagmati,
Kamala,
Balan,
Budhi Gandak.[17]
Natural floods
Since the beginning of human civilization, rivers have been an important part of human life. North Bihar has 7 major rivers and several tributaries to them. North Bihar districts are vulnerable to at least five major flood-causing rivers during the
monsoon –
Mahananda River,
Koshi River,
Bagmati River ,
Burhi Gandak River and
Gandak – which originate in Nepal.[18] All these rivers receive water from the
Himalayas, so these rivers always have an adequate water supply. Every year, these rivers bring valuable floods for the people of North Bihar. Flood waters used to enter the agricultural land, leave their quite fertile silt and recede to the river. This pattern of humane flood was beneficial for North Bihar, making the land perfectly fertile. However, there are no more natural floods as of today.
Man-made floods
Soon after independence, the
Congress Government of Bihar made several attempts to domesticate these rivers. High barriers or Bandhs were made on their both banks. This resulted in inhumane and destructive floods. Bandhs caused deposition of silts in the bottom of rivers, because of which, depth of rivers decreased, and so their water holding capacity also decreased. This is the reason these rivers bring more frequent floods now. With flood water, sand comes in force and gets deposited on the land. This way the land of the region in turning barren. Floods, once a boon for North Bihar, has now become a curse.
Kosi flood 2008,
2008 Kosi flood
Flooded North Bihar
Date
18 August 2008
Location
North Bihar
Deaths
434[19] (Dead bodies were found until 27 November 2008)
The 2008 Kosi flood was one of the most disastrous floods in the history of North Bihar, an impoverished and densely populated region in
India. A breach in the
Kosi embankment near the Indo-Nepal border (at
Kusha in
Nepal) occurred on 18 August 2008. The river changed course and inundated areas which were not flooded in decades.[20] The flood affected over 2.3 million people in North Bihar.[21]
The flood killed 250 people and forced nearly 3 million people from their homes in North Bihar.[22] More than 300,000 houses were destroyed and at least 340,000 hectares (840,000 acres) of crops were damaged.[22] Villagers in North Bihar ate raw rice and flour mixed with polluted water. Hunger and disease were widespread. The
Supaul district was the worst-hit; surging waters swamped 1,000 square kilometers (247,000 acres) of farmlands, destroying crops.[23]
The 2017 North Bihar Floods affected 19 districts of North Bihar causing death of 514 people.[24][25][26][27][28] This flood was result of sudden increase in water discharge through the Gandak, Burhi Gandak, Bagmati,
Kamla, Kosi and Mahananda Rivers due to heavy rain in the catchment areas of the major rivers of north Bihar in Nepal.[29]Araria district accounted for 95 deaths alone,[30] followed by Sitamarhi (34), West Champaran (29), Katihar (26), East Champaran (19) while 22 have died in Madhubani, Supaul (13) and Madhepura (15). 11 deaths were reported in Kishanganj, while Darbhanga accounted for 19 deaths, Purnea (9), Gopalganj (9), Sheohar (4), Muzaffarpur (7), Samastipur (1) and Saharsa (4) registered four deaths each while Khagaria and Saran accounted for 7 deaths each. Nowadays, around 1.71 people on average are affected by floods alone.[31][32][33][34]
^AAHSKK: ALPSANKHYAK AVAM HARIJAN SAMAJ KALYAN KENDRA.
"An AGO in Muzaffarpur". Archived from
the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
^District - Muzaffarpur(PDF). Patna, India: Road constructor Department, Government of Bihar. p. 1.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016.