Bihar Flood Dispatch-1
19th March 2005

Bihar will be exposed to the fury of rivers this year and the setting is getting complete because of non-formation of the Government. Water Resources Department of the state had identified 280 schemes to be taken up on to prevent breaches in the embankments. As a customary, all the works on the Kosi embankments are completed before March every year. All other maintenance and repair works are completed by the end of May. Nothing has been done so far because the decisions are delayed and the files are shuttling between various sections of the Department of Water Resources, in the absence of a popular Government. A decision to allocate funds and finalize works could not be taken in the last meeting of the state cabinet and now, there is no cabinet. Unless something is done on the emergent basis, the state would be in trouble in months to come as breaches in the embankments would put people to lot of trouble.

It is an irony of fate that if the embankments do not breach, the drainage of the country would be jeopardized and the people would suffer acute waterlogging. We would soon listen, in observance of the annual ritual, that negotiations are on with Nepal and the Barahkshetra Dam would be built at the earliest and all the problem of the state would be solved.

Dinesh Mishra