Reports said hundreds of displaced people had been living under the open skies without food or drinking water.

Raju said that a probe is on to know the reason for the breach. Till last Friday, the district administration and engineers had claimed that there was no threat to the embankment from the rising water level in the Bagmati river. According to official sources, the embankment was repaired and strengthened last year.

However, villagers claim they had informed officials about a six-inch wide hole in the embankment, but no move was initiated to repair it. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has promised stern action against erring officials.

More than three million people were rendered homeless when the Kosi river nearby breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course August 2008, flooding large tracts of land.