Patna, Dec 24 (IANS) A day after a threat was received to blow up the coffer dam under construction near the Kusaha embankment, the Nepal government has beefed up security at the site and assured protection to the officials from Bihar posted there, officials said Wednesday. “The Nepal government has tightened security around the coffer-dam following the threat,” a government official told IANS here.

Soon after engineers from Bihar received the threat Tuesday to blow up the coffer dam near the Kusaha embankment in Nepal, they made a request to the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and the central government for protection.

The state government has reportedly sought protection for the coffer dam site and the officials posted there, official said.

According to official sources, two coffer dams are under construction near the Kusaha embankment where the Kosi river changed its course earlier this year which resulted in catastrophic floods in north Bihar after a breach in the embankment.

The Kosi Breach Closure Advisory Team (KBCAT) reportedly informed the Bihar government that the 1.75 km-long breach in Kusaha embankment has to be plugged before March-April 2009.

The KBCAT has warned that if the breach is not plugged before the onset of the next monsoon, Bihar may face another catastrophe during the next rainy season.