Flood Dispatch-3
6th April 2005

Today is 6th April and it is a very significant day in the history of the flood victims of Bihar. It was on this day, on the 6th April 1947, a public meeting was held in Nirmali (Dist Supaul in North Bihar bordering Nepal) that a promise was made by the leaders of the country, who were sensing independence, that the problems of the floods of the Kosi needs to be looked into and that a dam would be constructed across the Kosi at Barahkshetra in Nepal and all the problems facing the people will be solved, thus. This meeting was attended by no less a person than Dr Rajendra Prasad, who later became the first president of the country. He wished that he would live long enough to see the smiles on the faces of the people of the Kosi Basin and that the river, notorious for its vagaries, would be tamed and a new era of prosperity would dawn on the people of this area.

He was ably supported by his colleague C.H.Bhabha, then member planning at the center, who was of the view that nothing could be done till then because the engineers were undecided on how to tame this river and their opinion, too, was swinging like the course of the river itself. Since engineers were not firm on their ground, the member was apologetic that in the absence of such an advice, it was not possible for the Government to proceed in the right direction. The dilemma then was whether to construct embankments along the river like the one existing along the Mississippi or the Hwang Ho. The member termed these embankments along the rivers as one confirming to  “outdated technology”.  The right direction, according to him, was the one shown by the Tennessee Valley Authority of the USA and its Indian version, the Damodar Valley Corporation.  That was the reason why Bhabha advocated the construction of the Barahkshetra Dam on the Kosi that was originally proposed by Jimut Bahan Sen, the PWD secretary of Bihar in 1937.

There was, however, no money to construct the Barahkshetra Dam and the “out dated technology” was adopted in 1953 by the Government and the Kosi was trapped between the embankments. It is trapped ever since although it broke its shackles in 1963  (Dalwa in Nepal), in 1968 at Jamalpur (Dist Darbhanga), in 1971 at Bhatania (Dist Supaul), in 1980 at Bahuarawa (Dist Saharsa), in 1984 at Hempur (Dist Saharsa), in 1987 at Ghonghepur and Samani (Dist Saharsa) and finally at Joginia in Nepal, in 1991. The breach at Joginia precipitated a major political crisis as the minister for Water Resources; Govt. of Bihar, resigned his post because he had promised on the floor of Bihar Vidhan Sabha that he would resign his post if any of the embankments in state breached.

Embankments, in Bihar, breach with alarming regularity. They breach even if there is no local rainfall. A good rain in upper catchments in Nepal is a fair justification for the embankments to breach. This leads to usual mud slinging between the State Government and the Center and entertains people if there are different parties at the helm of affairs at these places. The season for breaches is approaching fast and the leaders of various political parties in Bihar are busy with their strange arithmetic of permutations and combinations. Unless they solve their sums correctly, they cannot pass through the portals of Vidhan Sabha and form the Government.

In the meanwhile, the center has allocated a sum of Rs. 356 Crores to raise, strengthen and extend the embankments of the Bagmati and the Kamla. This is just an extension of the “outdated embanking technology” of 1947. The problem in the state is identified with that of the smooth drainage but what is attempted in the field results in obstructing the same. Extension of embankments length, width or height impedes the flow. The other culprits are the roads and railway lines without proper drainage and so are the canals whose length runs into tens of thousands of kilometers. No one is talking about the impending manmade disaster at the moment that the people of Bihar are destined to face in coming months.

Will somebody tell the flood victims of Bihar what happened to the report of the task force that was appointed last year after the visit of Man Mohan Singh and what actions are taken to safeguard the interest of the people? Will somebody also tell the people of Kusheswar Asthan, Chandauli, Khagaria, Darbhanga, Danapur, Jhanjharpur, Runnisaipur, and Kataunjha that enough food grains are stored at respective places and it will not have to be transported from Patna this time? Will the people living on the embankments not be threatened with evacuation in the name of raising and strengthening of the embankments? Will the victims of erosion of the banks of the river, all along the state, get a recognition that that the Government is aware of their problems and adequate steps will be taken to reduce their sufferings? Will somebody ask the politicians, both at the center and the state, why did they not chant the Barahkshetra Mantra after the month of November, last year till date? Will the expert committee on Interlinking of Rivers tell people of Bihar what solution they have for the problem of floods facing the people of Bihar since the Government is going slow with the Himalayan component of the River linking? Will anybody tell the people of Bihar why Barahkshetra Dam on the Kosi is not built despite ‘fruitful negotiations’ for the past so many decades and if its construction is absurd, why nothing is being done to face the floods locally?   

  Just as we do not talk about the floods and ask these questions in the dry season, we are not left with any option to than to face them silently in the rainy season.

  Dinesh Kumar Mishra
Convenor-Barh Mukti Abhiyan
C-7 Vatika Green City
PO  MGMC  Dimna Road
Jamshedpur 831018

Ph: 0657-2650844
Mob: 91-9431303360
E-mail: mishradk@...