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Dear Vagesh ji,
Very good initiative.
My own book has Bihar in focus.
You may like to incorporate it in the list.
The title is :

"ROLE OF  MASS MEDIA IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT:
a Study of Village Communication in Bihar"

Published by Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi (1985).

Regards,
ARBIND

Frinds,
A number of articles has been appearing in newspapers based on the
world bank report on Bihar. I am sending this for  those who may not
have got the time to read the world bank report on Bihar. I wonder if
some of us could come up with a critique of the report, I have not
seen any critical article except one by Girish Mishra in Jansatta. It
would be good if some of us could try a critique of the write-up.
Regards,
Vagish
  Bihar Dalits thrice as poor as upper castes
By Imran Khan, Indo-Asian News Service

Patna, Aug 5 (IANS) Dalits are likely to be three times poorer than
upper castes in Bihar, says a World Bank report, underlining that
poverty in the state is still deeply rooted in the centuries-old caste
system.

"In Bihar, despite decades of efforts on the part of successive
governments, the SC/STs (Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes or Dalits)
are likely to be around three times poorer than the upper castes and
appreciably poorer than other backward castes and Muslims," says the
report.

Dalits who are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy constitute around
15 percent of the state's population of 83 million.

"A critical aspect of poverty in Bihar is that of caste or social
identity, whose impact cuts across all dimensions," says the report
titled "Bihar: Towards a Development Strategy".

"SC/ST households, for instance, are not only significantly poorer
than the rest of the population but are also more likely to be
marginal landholders, working as agricultural labour and illiterate,"
the report states.

According to the report, per capita household expenditure and land
ownership of SC/STs was significantly lower than that of the non
SC/STs in both urban and rural areas in 1999-2000, and the gap has
remained virtually unchanged since 1993-94.

"SC/ST households are almost three times more likely to be landless
than others," it said.

The report says a number of factors account for the gap in living
standards between SC/STs and the majority of households. One is Dalits
are less likely to own much land or have much education.

More than 70 percent of household heads from SC/STs were illiterate in
1999-2000, as compared to about half the household heads from other
social groups.

Similarly, job opportunities for them tended to be restricted to
low-paid jobs as around 60 percent of them were engaged in
agricultural labour compared to only 30 percent in the case of other
households.

The World Bank has said the abject poverty in rural Bihar, where
almost 87 percent of the state's population lives, is a result of low
landholding among its people.

In the case of Dalits, primary school enrolment is also lower than for
the rest of the population. The differences become larger for higher
age categories as the initial gap in school entry is exacerbated by
lower school retention rates among SC/STs.

The 2001 census shows Bihar's literacy level as India's lowest, at 48
percent, compared to 65 percent in the rest of the country.

--Indo-Asian News Service

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  We feel sorry for the people of Mumbai and most part of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and now Karnataka, who have suffered the onslaughts of floods and drainage congestion recently. Who else would understand the plight of the Mumbaikars and Mahrashtrians and those from Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh better than us, the people of North Bihar, who so very well understand what flooding or drainage congestion means. What happened in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra this year, happens every year in our part of the country.

Mumbai is a narrow strip of land protruding into the ocean implying it has drainage outlets all along its coast into the Arabian Sea and there is no reason why the rainwater should not reach the sea, without causing any havoc, unless it is physically prevented from doing so. A rough sea, however, would retard the process of drainage but will not prevent it altogether. This seems to have happened. Clogged drains, undersized drains, no drains, encroachments, official apathy etc may be some of the reasons for the catastrophe. It is about the time that the people force the authorities to ensure that such incidents are never repeated in future keeping in mind that nature keeps on improving its records of flooding, rainfall and droughts. 

We, in Bihar, are particularly concerned by the collapse of official machinery in dealing with floods and drainage congestion in Mumbai because this single 100 years occurring will give a tool in the hands of officials and politicians to defend themselves and they would cite the Mumbai example for a long time to come. When such things can happen in one of the best governed states and financial capital of the country, why blame Bihar?

A word about situation in Bihar would be relevant here. The state is reeling under a spell of drought this year. There was some flooding in the Bagmati and the Mahananda basin in early July and then on there are only clouds and little rains. Newspaper reports suggest that only 36 per cent of transplantation of paddy has taken place till 3rd August whereas it should have been 100 per cent by now. I had traveled recently to chronically flooded districts of north Bihar like Muzaffarpur, Saran, Vaishali, Saharsa, Supaul, Khagaria and Begusarai on the dusty roads in the last week of July. Jute crop is still standing in the fields and unless the ponds or depressions are filled with water, it will not be possible for the farmers to harvest Paat (Jute) and put it in ponds for retting. And unless the fields are cleared of Paat , paddy transplantation cannot be done. Those farmers who own or can afford Diesel Pumps (@ Rs 75 per hour ) are transplanting paddy and those who cannot, are still looking towards the sky. This despite the Gandak and the Kosi canals and various State Tube-Wells and other minor irrigation works.

Most people in the nation feel that Bihar is Water Surplus state, thanks to official propaganda but can we do something to bring Gujarat or Maharashtra water to Bihar in case of such emergency and such availability. A similar situation had occurred, in 1987, when almost entire country was reeling under an unprecedented drought, and Bihar was facing the worst ever flood of the 20th century. Gujarat is slowly becoming a state to face floods on a regular basis. When it comes to linking Bihar rivers to the Sabarmati, in Gujarat, to combat the shortages there, it should also be possible to bring water from Gujarat to Bihar. All that we may have to do is to have canals with adjustable and / or reversible bed slopes and this should be possible with the excellent technical expertise available in our country that can turn improbability into reality. Else, we can have parallel sets of canals flowing in opposite directions in our interlinking scheme and, thus, let it work both ways. That will take care of all conceivable problems regarding irrigational water and floods within the country, I presume.

Also, a couple of months ago, there was a meeting in Darbhanga, chaired by the Commissioner there to discuss the flood preparedness plan. I suggested that the meeting should start by paying tributes to 274 persons who had lost their lives in Darbhanga Commissionary alone, in the floods of 2004. I was told that, as a customary, meetings are adjourned after making obituary references and hence a condolence resolution cannot be passed before the meeting. Those present insisted that a two minutes silence must be observed at the end of the meeting and that was done. Can we do this in all the meetings that we hold this year to remind our ‘Maaliks’ that these lives could have been saved if only they had exercised caution and listened to the people or the committees that they themselves had constituted from time to time.

Dinesh Kumar Mishra
Convenor- Barh Mukti Abhiyan
Camp- Patna
4th August 2005.

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
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   File        : /Girish Mishra in Jansatta, July 2005,world bank on bihar.jpg
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   Description : Girish Mishra's Article in Jansatta dated 22 July 2005on the
World Bank Report on Bihar

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Regards,

rakujha <kjrajesh@...>

It will be good to see G. Mishra's paper before commenting on WB paper...,u
should have sent that first..i suppose....,
Being Bihari, by birth and uprbignig, my only suggestion will be not to be
unncessarily defensive, as it aqppears in the tone of this mail,instead of
being pro-active....we can not change people's perceptions forcibly by
writing emails sitting in Delhi...does it matter to our efforts to what WB
writes....don't we know the reality enough to make interventions......why
should it be WB to bring out all our IMB brand of Intel-inside.... do we
not want to dance to the tune that they set for us...we have been doing for
deacdes...we must stop or influence them, instead of keep reacting to
pro-gloablization leader like WB....like an empty arm chair Bihari
intellectuals...sitting in Delhi and making no real difference to the real
situation there.....except for a tiny initiatives to make no real
difference.... otherwise, Biharis staying there are brave enough to make
differnce to their lives...they do not need us , unless we do something to
compliment their efforts....instead of reacting to situations that no one
cares for... people do care for in long term what we do...not what we talk
and email.... let us do some more chintan before we keep shooting emails to
fill up our own gaps in action....     
kishore



Original Message:
-----------------
From: vagish Jha vagishkj@...
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 14:27:29 +0530
To: biharchintan@...
Subject: [biharchintan] World Bank Report on Development Strategy for Bihar


Friends,
The World Bank has come up with a paper named "Bihar : Towards a
Development
Strategy". An article by Girish Mishra in Jansatta, dated 22 June 2005
gives
a critique of the position taken by the world Bank. I am trying to send the
article by Girish Mishra also soon.
However, I am sending the link to the site and a brief summary as given in
the report. I am trying to put the report on the Bihar Chintan E group (
Yahoo group also since it is a big file).
Vagish

http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN
/0,,contentMDK:20556842~pagePK:141137~piPK:217854~theSitePK:295584,00.html
"The challenge of development in Bihar is enormous due to persistent
poverty, complex social stratification, unsatisfactory infrastrucre and
weak
governance; these problems are well know but not well understood. The
people
of Bihar - civil society, businessmen, government officials, farmes, and
politicians - also struggle against an image problem that is deeply
damaging
to Bihar's growth prospects. An effort is needed to change this perception,
and to search for real solutions and strategies to meets Bihar's
development
challenge.
The main mesage of this report is one of hope. There are many success
stories not well known outside Bihar that demonstrate it strong potential,
and could in fact provide lessons for other regions. A boost to economic
growth, improved social indicators, and poverty reduction will require a
multi-dimensional development strategy that builds on Bihar's successes and
draws on the underlying resilience and strengths of its people."


--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .

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I was bit disheartened to read Mr Kishore's comments. All approaches must be
constructive. Here are a group of people raising issues of concern for a
community which even flinches from owning up the state. We must try and use all
medium, inside or outside, to bring in discussion, debate and introspection.
In solidarity,
Rahul Ramagundam

----- Original Message -----
From: "kishore_singh_delhi@..." <kishore_singh_delhi@...>
Date: Monday, July 25, 2005 0:40 am
Subject: RE: [biharchintan] World Bank Report on Development Strategy for Bihar

> It will be good to see G. Mishra's paper before commenting on WB
> paper...,ushould have sent that first..i suppose....,
> Being Bihari, by birth and uprbignig, my only suggestion will be
> not to be
> unncessarily defensive, as it aqppears in the tone of this
> mail,instead of
> being pro-active....we can not change people's perceptions
> forcibly by
> writing emails sitting in Delhi...does it matter to our efforts to
> what WB
> writes....don't we know the reality enough to make
> interventions......whyshould it be WB to bring out all our IMB
> brand of Intel-inside.... do we
> not want to dance to the tune that they set for us...we have been
> doing for
> deacdes...we must stop or influence them, instead of keep reacting to
> pro-gloablization leader like WB....like an empty arm chair Bihari
> intellectuals...sitting in Delhi and making no real difference to
> the real
> situation there.....except for a tiny initiatives to make no real
> difference.... otherwise, Biharis staying there are brave enough
> to make
> differnce to their lives...they do not need us , unless we do
> something to
> compliment their efforts....instead of reacting to situations that
> no one
> cares for... people do care for in long term what we do...not what
> we talk
> and email.... let us do some more chintan before we keep shooting
> emails to
> fill up our own gaps in action....
> kishore
>
>
>
> Original Message:
> -----------------
> From: vagish Jha vagishkj@...
> Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 14:27:29 +0530
> To: biharchintan@...
> Subject: [biharchintan] World Bank Report on Development Strategy
> for Bihar
>
>
> Friends,
> The World Bank has come up with a paper named "Bihar : Towards a
> Development
> Strategy". An article by Girish Mishra in Jansatta, dated 22 June 2005
> gives
> a critique of the position taken by the world Bank. I am trying to
> send the
> article by Girish Mishra also soon.
> However, I am sending the link to the site and a brief summary as
> given in
> the report. I am trying to put the report on the Bihar Chintan E
> group (
> Yahoo group also since it is a big file).
> Vagish
>
> http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN
> /0,,contentMDK:20556842~pagePK:141137~piPK:217854~theSitePK:295584,00.html
> "The challenge of development in Bihar is enormous due to
> persistent
> poverty, complex social stratification, unsatisfactory
> infrastrucre and
> weak
> governance; these problems are well know but not well understood. The
> people
> of Bihar - civil society, businessmen, government officials,
> farmes, and
> politicians - also struggle against an image problem that is deeply
> damaging
> to Bihar's growth prospects. An effort is needed to change this
> perception,
> and to search for real solutions and strategies to meets Bihar's
> development
> challenge.
> The main mesage of this report is one of hope. There are many
> success
> stories not well known outside Bihar that demonstrate it strong
> potential,
> and could in fact provide lessons for other regions. A boost to
> economic
> growth, improved social indicators, and poverty reduction will
> require a
> multi-dimensional development strategy that builds on Bihar's
> successes and
> draws on the underlying resilience and strengths of its people."
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> mail2web - Check your email from the web at
> http://mail2web.com/ .
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

It will be good to see G. Mishra's paper before commenting on WB paper...,u
should have sent that first..i suppose....,
Being Bihari, by birth and uprbignig, my only suggestion will be not to be
unncessarily defensive, as it aqppears in the tone of this mail,instead of
being pro-active....we can not change people's perceptions forcibly by
writing emails sitting in Delhi...does it matter to our efforts to what WB
writes....don't we know the reality enough to make interventions......why
should it be WB to bring out all our IMB brand of Intel-inside.... do we
not want to dance to the tune that they set for us...we have been doing for
deacdes...we must stop or influence them, instead of keep reacting to
pro-gloablization leader like WB....like an empty arm chair Bihari
intellectuals...sitting in Delhi and making no real difference to the real
situation there.....except for a tiny initiatives to make no real
difference.... otherwise, Biharis staying there are brave enough to make
differnce to their lives...they do not need us , unless we do something to
compliment their efforts....instead of reacting to situations that no one
cares for... people do care for in long term what we do...not what we talk
and email.... let us do some more chintan before we keep shooting emails to
fill up our own gaps in action....
kishore



Original Message:
-----------------
From: vagish Jha vagishkj@...
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 14:27:29 +0530
To: biharchintan@...
Subject: [biharchintan] World Bank Report on Development Strategy for Bihar


Friends,
The World Bank has come up with a paper named "Bihar : Towards a
Development
Strategy". An article by Girish Mishra in Jansatta, dated 22 June 2005
gives
a critique of the position taken by the world Bank. I am trying to send the
article by Girish Mishra also soon.
  However, I am sending the link to the site and a brief summary as given in
the report. I am trying to put the report on the Bihar Chintan E group (
Yahoo group also since it is a big file).
  Vagish

http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN
/0,,contentMDK:20556842~pagePK:141137~piPK:217854~theSitePK:295584,00.html
  "The challenge of development in Bihar is enormous due to persistent
poverty, complex social stratification, unsatisfactory infrastrucre and
weak
governance; these problems are well know but not well understood. The
people
of Bihar - civil society, businessmen, government officials, farmes, and
politicians - also struggle against an image problem that is deeply
damaging
to Bihar's growth prospects. An effort is needed to change this perception,
and to search for real solutions and strategies to meets Bihar's
development
challenge.
The main mesage of this report is one of hope. There are many success
stories not well known outside Bihar that demonstrate it strong potential,
and could in fact provide lessons for other regions. A boost to economic
growth, improved social indicators, and poverty reduction will require a
multi-dimensional development strategy that builds on Bihar's successes and
draws on the underlying resilience and strengths of its people."


--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .

Dear Sri Arbind Sinha Jee.,
  I am sending herewith details  about theConference of  Economic Association
of Bihar, which is going to be held at Women's College Jamshedpur,
Jharkhand, by attachment. I request to you, kindly forward this mail to
related person.
  With regards
  Dalip <<Bihar-Folder-2005.doc>>


> -----Original Message-----
> From: biharchintan@... [SMTP:biharchintan@...]
> On Behalf Of arbind@...
> Sent: Friday, July 15, 2005 5:49 PM
> To: biharchintan@...
> Subject: Re: [biharchintan] Annual Conference of  Economic
> Association of  Bihar
>
> Dear Shri Dalip Kumar,
> Thanks for the information through Shri Vagish Jha.
> Since this would be very crucial information for all in Bihar Chintan to
> know and not all of us would be able to participate, pl. circulate a brief
> summary of the discussion you have.
> Best wishes and regards to all Bihar Mitra.
> ARBIND SINHA
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>

Dear Shri Dalip Kumar,
Thanks for the information through Shri Vagish Jha.
Since this would be very crucial information for all in Bihar Chintan to
know and not all of us would be able to participate, pl. circulate a brief
summary of the discussion you have.
Best wishes and regards to all Bihar Mitra.
ARBIND SINHA

Dear Jha Shaheb,
  I am sending herewith details  about theConference of  Economic Association
of Bihar, which is going to be held at Women's College Jamshedpur,
Jharkhand, by attachment. I request to you, kindly forward this mail to
related person.
  With regards
  Dalip <<Bihar-Folder-2005.doc>>

Dear Mr. Jha
Thanks for the regular information about the State. I  gladly inform to you
that Economic Association of Bihar is going to organised a Annual Conference
at Women's College Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. I am sending herewith details  of
Conference  with attachment. Kindly expedite among the members of Bihar
Chintan

Thanks with regards
Dalip Kumar
  NCAER
  New Delhi-110002
  <<Bihar-Folder-2005.doc>>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: biharchintan@... [SMTP:biharchintan@...]
> On Behalf Of vagish Jha
> Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 9:33 PM
> To: Bihar Chintan
> Subject: [biharchintan] Girl from Indian leper colony graduates in UK
>
> Girl from Indian leper colony graduates in UK
> Tuesday, 12 July , 2005, 19:00
>
> <http://headlines.sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13894388&headline=Girl~fr
> om~Bihar~leper~colony~graduates>
>
>
> London: An Indian girl who grew up in a remote leper colony in Bihar has
> overcome all odds to graduate with flying colours from the UK.
>
> Rina (26), one of 3000 Sunderland University students felicitated at a
> graduation ceremony on Monday, has perhaps faced more challenges in her
> young life than her fellow students.
>
> Not content with three A-levels in Pharmacy, Rina is now concentrating on
> her next challenge - medical school. She also hopes to return to India to
> help fight the disease that devastated her family.
>
> "To be a qualified pharmacist and to know about healing drugs is
> wonderful, but to be a doctor who can prescribe those drugs would be the
> perfect combination," Rina was quoted as saying by The Telegraph here on
> Tuesday.
>
> "So many people in India do not understand that leprosy can be simply
> cured with drugs - that if you catch the disease early it can take only
> three months to heal the skin," she said.
>
> Rina was barely seven years old when her father was afflicted with
> leprosy. Driven out of their village, her illiterate father was reduced to
> begging at Raxaul near the Nepal border, before the family found shelter
> at a leprosy mission in Sunderpur.
>
> Having picked up reading and writing skills at the mission school, Rina's
> life changed for the better after a chance meeting in 1994 with Lady Patsy
> Puttnam of Queensgate, who was touring community projects in India.
>
> Impressed by the teenager's desire to learn, Lady Puttnam and her friend
> Daphne Rae arranged for a scholarship position for Rina at the Gordonstoun
> public school in Scotland.
>
> After that, there was no looking back. Today, no one can be more proud of
> Rina than her guardian Lord Puttnam, who also happens to be the Chancellor
> of Sunderland University.
>
> "It's a wonderful achievement. She has an extraordinary combination of
> vision and determination," he said.
>
> "The great thing about her is that she has this genuine personal ambition,
> but, like a lot of people in the developing world, she also understands
> the purpose of that ambition, which is that it should be used for the
> public good," he added.
>
>   _____
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
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> * To visit your group on the web, go to:
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>

The following biharchintan poll is now closed.  Here are the
final results:


POLL QUESTION: Embankments are the major cause of misery for Bihar during
floods.It is good that most of the embankments breached last
year remain unrepaired.


CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Don't Agree, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Agree, 0 votes, 0.00%



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Two Dalit women in race for Nobel

PATNA: Two women from the underprivileged class America Devi and
Tiliya Devi of Madhubani district have been nominated for 2005 Nobel
prize.

Tiliya Devi (40) and America Devi (35) are among 92 women from India
and 158 in South Asia to have been nominated for the Nobel Peace
Prize.

Non-violent struggle

Tiliya, a mother of six children and a farm labourer, led a
non-violent agitation to `free' the land from clutches of powerful
local people in her village Lakhanpur Khairi.

She fought opposition from all corners, including her home, for
bringing a change in the life of the downtrodden community. In course
of her struggle, she mobilised women in favour of her struggle to free
156 acres of land belonging to the Mushars (Scheduled Caste) forcibly
captured by the upper caste people.

Sharing her experience Tiliya Devi told newspersons here today that
she had successfully freed 13 acre of land from the upper caste
people.

America Devi is also a peasant labourer of Sohraiya village in
Lakhanpur block. She opposed former minister Roop Narayan Jha, who had
forcibly taken control of a pond spread over seven acres of land. In
her struggle, America Devi faced strong objection from her husband and
villagers, however, the situation did not dampen her spirit. -- UNI

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
biharchintan group:

Embankments are the major cause of misery for Bihar during
floods.It is good that most of the embankments breached last
year remain unrepaired.


   o Agree
   o Don't Agree


To vote, please visit the following web page:

http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/biharchintan/polls

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the biharchintan
group.

   File        : /Bihar Chintan-Introduction.doc
   Uploaded by : rakujha <kjrajesh@...>
   Description : Bihar Chintan-Introduction

You can access this file at the URL

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.doc

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Regards,

rakujha <kjrajesh@...>

  Bihar Flood Dispatch-8 / 2005

The Sinking Foundation of Task Force Report (2005) – 3

The Task Force on Floods (2004) has suggested raising and strengthening of the embankments and the Centre’s Government in Bihar has religiously followed the advice. Embankments all over the state are being raised in the hope that they will save the masses from floods. A report by the State Govt. of Bihar (2002) says that those who are opposed to the embankments have a colonial bent of mind because the British too held the same opinion.  These embankments were constructed by sandy soil and are being raised by sand only, since that is the only local material available. These embankments would be a greater threat to the people because they will allow the flood levels within the embankments to build up before they breach. I would like to slightly go back in history as to how the British reached the conclusion.

  Captain Hirst (1908) was carefully watching growth of these embankments and commented, ‘…In recent times , on the left bank of the Kosi, in the Purnea District, private enterprise has copied the work of the makers of the Bir Band, giving temporary relief, which, as will be seen later, is probably a menace to “future welfare” He also denounced the way embankments were built in China on the Hwang Ho saying, ‘…The Chinese, however, give us the best example of the deplorable results which wrongly designed attempts  to benefit one generation have had on posterity, an important river, in the act of fulfilling a definite programme of land construction by the deposition of the sediment carried in its waters , was forced into a fixed bed, and maintained there by closing, with embankments, of the natural outlets, which permitted flood waters to deposit the matter which they held in solution or suspension, on lands which sadly needed it. Each succeeding generation has been compelled to raise the height of the embankments, to make them keep pace with an ever- increasing flood level….unusually heavy flood breaks down or overtops the embankments, and the pent-up waters deal death to the posterity of those who, originally in good faith, prepared the way for disaster.  (Emphasis Authour)

The terrible results of the embankment system in China should serve as a warning to Indian engineers; it is very doubtful if the warning has yet been taken; and it is more than probable that the heavy floods which in very recent years have devastated several of the North Bihar districts are mainly, if not entirely, due to the prevalence of embankments…An embankment, with little or no waterway through it for carrying off the flood waters, is a glove thrown in the nature’s face –an insult which she has not yet been known to leave unavanged.’

W.A.Inglis(1909), a retired chief engineer of Bengal, replied to the points raised by Hirst but before doing that he made his position very clear, ‘… By some of the engineers who had to deal with the rivers of Bengal, marginal embankments have been held as altogether abominable. By others whom I number myself, it has been held that marginal flood banks, designed with discretion and with proper understanding of the factors of the case, are of service. It is, however, fully recognized that it is rather that they are a lesser evil than uncontrolled floods, than that they are in themselves a positive good.’

He continued to say that, ‘… It is true that all such rivers have certain features in common. They are liable to pass a high flood within their natural banks. They are all silt bearing to a greater or a less degree, and they are all liable to bank erosion. There is, however, a great variation in these factors, and I would lay a great stress on the necessity for the careful consideration of the peculiarities of each river.

Hirst had raised the point of non-interference with the working of nature, in general, and with rivers in particular. He had also talked about ‘throwing gloves in the face of nature’ and its revenge. To this Inglis’s reply was that it was true that man could not do anything in controlling or changing the bigger forces of nature. He could neither cause the rain to fall, sun to shine or wind to blow. Yet he could interfere with the forces of nature and modify them. He maintained that every field that is ploughed or sowed with corn was an interference with nature. Through cross-breeding human beings had modified the plants and animals. He had constructed reservoirs to store water and applied it for irrigation without any regard to apparent intention of nature. He had protected the river banks against erosion, dredged up sand and mud from the places where nature wanted that to remain. Inglis emphasized the need for understanding the limits within which such efforts should be confined and the success depended on appreciating such limits and the sense of proportion.

Inglis, however, did say that low height embankments could be built along the rivers that would hold the flood, to an extent, and allow the rivers to continue its process of land building. This is what famous Wilcox had also suggested while describing the Burdwan, the construction of embankments along the Damodar in 1850s and their subsequent demolition in 1860s. 

William Inglis, former chief engineer of Bengal in the beginning of the twentieth century (retired 5th December 1905) had a very good understanding of the entire flood situation in the province and had the authority to do innovative experiments. Yet, no such experiments, that he professed or thought were good for the community, were done during his tenure. It is difficult to understand why the traditions like one in Burdwan were allowed to die. His enlightenment was post retirement and he set, probably, the tradition. Such proposals are made even today and some engineers talk about controlled flooding with the help of embankments so that depressions in land (locally called chaurs) are slowly filled and the land reclaimed.  Besides, when the floods are designed to take place by overtopping of the embankments, there is some sort of preparedness to face the eventuality. And this what, precisely, the farmers of flood plains, in general, or those in Burdwan, in particular, were doing. But the state interfered unnecessarily in the community efforts to the detriment of the collective and traditional wisdom of the farmers and imposed on them a system of irrigation that was of doubtful efficacy. Wisdom dawned on Wilcox, too, but only after his retirement. One can many find retired Chief Engineers in Bihar who would suggest the same. The question is why don’t they speak while their tenure is on?

Now that the traditional wisdom is buried, it is difficult to revive such a system and convince farmers of the partial or controlled flood protection. They will seek either full protection against floods because they have been promised the same for a long time now or will be happy without one. The people will have to be told that the floods cannot be done away with and will have to be faced in some form or the other through a massive education programme. In the absence of such a campaign, the people are unlikely to appreciate the futility of flood control measures. They will keep on asking that what is the use of flood protection if it does not protect them fully?

Many elderly people living in the flood plains of Bihar  are of the opinion  that the British failed to  understand the rationale behind the low height and weak embankments of  the zamindars. Being of low height, these embankments were capable of holding small floods and that is what their function was. After a stage, there used to be preparedness of breaching of the embankments and if the embankments did not breach on their own, they were cut en masse. Thus the floods were moderated automatically and river was free to perform its duty of land building. The fields used to get the top layer water from the rivers, which contained the fertilizing silt. The fields were never cast with coarse sand and their fertility of land was never lost.

Let us all prey that almighty God grants our engineers the courage to speak the truth.

Dinesh Kumar Mishra
Convenor-Barh Mukti Abhiyan
C-7 Vatika Green City  PO  MGMC
Dimna Road  Jamshedpur  831018
Ph: 0657-2650844  Mob: 09431303360
E-mail  mishrdadk@...

28th June 2005

  Flood Dispatch  7 / 2005          

According to the Task Force Report the length of embankments along Bihar rivers is 3454 kilometers. The fact is that Bihar has an embankment length of 3430 kilometers. At one stage this length was 3465 kilometers (1993) but 11 kilometers length was washed away and the other 24 kilometers has gone to Jharkhand leaving behind 3430 kilometers in Bihar.  The Task Force report is unaware that Jahrkhand is carved out of Bihar long back and it should have corrected its figures. The Task Force report further says that the flood prone area of the state that was 4.26 million hectares in 1978  (National Commission on Floods-1980) has now gone up to 6.88 million hectares. The state has protected 2.95 million hectares against floods so far and hence 3.93 million hectares are yet to be protected. In 1978, the corresponding figures were 1.566 MH  and the area needing flood protection was 2.696 MH (4.26-1.566 = 2.696 MH). The Task Force says that only 1.31 MH needed protection in 1978 and it is difficult to say how did the Task Force arrived at such figures. This means that while the flood prone area of the state increased from 4.26 MH to 6.88 MH (more than one and a half times) during 1978-1994 (NCF data are based on 1978 figures), the area needing protection against floods also shot up by the same proportions. Obviously, nobody is responsible for the debacle.

The only reason for providing the data here was to establish that the Task Force never bothered to verify facts before finalizing the report and it was sure that nobody would read the report which, anyway, is not worth reading. No credible evaluation study of any flood protection work has been done so far admits the Task Force and ‘..whatever studies have been carried out lack credibility’. Unfortunately, the Report of the Task Force also falls in the same category. It wants ‘… the schemes for embankments and drainage improvement be evaluated by independent agencies so as to arrive at definite conclusions about their effectiveness and counter the criticism being made by different individuals and organizations.’ By saying so, the Task Force has already told that it expects the study to give a tool to the concerned departments so that they can counter the criticism by ‘individuals and organizations’. Can such ‘independent agencies’ be really independent?


Dinesh Kumar Mishra
Convenor-Barh Mukti Abhiyan
C-7 Vatika Green City  PO  MGMC
Dimna Road  Jamshedpur  831018
Ph: 0657-2650844  Mob: 09431303360
E-mail  mishrdadk@...

6th June 2005

  Flood Dispatch  6 / 2005

The Sinking Foundation of Task Force Report (2005) – 2

Cho Ramaswamy, an authour, critic, satirist and a social worker had attempted to publish undated newspapers in late 1960s. The news of bundhs, Gheraos, political betrayals, train accidents, dacoities, riots, floods and droughts together with  condolences etc were all clubbed in the newspaper and one only had to put a date on it to read it as a fresh news paper. I have a vague memory of that newspaper of my  student days when we used to appreciate the genius of Ramaswamy.

The Report of Task Force For Flood Management / Erosion Control is one such report that can be rated as the modern version of Cho Ramaswamy’s Flood Report. It could be a report of any year’s post flood situation. Since the embankment debate to tame the rivers is not yet settled among the engineers, nor there are any chances of this getting settled in future, it provides an opportunity to many engineers sitting on the fence to jump on to the side where the bread is buttered. The Report says , “…Extreme views have emerged out of these. Many NGOs have voiced serious criticism about existing embankments. One is that the problem of flood can be solved by removal of all the existing embankments and the other diametrically opposite being that construction of more and more lengths of the embankments and their raising and strengthening is the only practicable medium/ short term solution of the floods problem.”

The point here is why the buck of indicating non-performance of embankments is passed on to NGOs. Don’t the engineers have eyes and ears of their own? What more evidence is needed against the performance of the embankments when the Report itself observes that there had been altogether 336 breaches in the embankments in Assam Valley alone. Of these, 249 breaches occurred in the Brahmaputra Basin and 87 in the Barak. One breach anywhere upstream is enough to ruin the flow mechanism of the river and distort the life of the people downstream. One can only wish that the Task Force have had the courage to utter the words that it puts in the mouth of NGOs. Did the Task Force ever bother to take the version of those who were exposed to the surges of water when the embankment breached in midnight amidst rains and dark nights with nowhere to go?

In Bihar, in the Report submitted to the Central Team, the memorandum submitted by the State Government said that there had been 50 braches in the embankments along the rivers and the State Government patted its back by saying that, in 1987, there were 300 braches in the embankments in the State and hence it performed better. The fact is that there were 105 breaches in the embankments in Bihar in 1987 and the remaining breaches occurred in the Zamindari and  Maharaji embankments which the Water Resources Department of the State shouts from the roof tops that they don’t belong to the Water Resources but are the property of the Revenue Department. A proposal was brought in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, way back in 1966, to transfer the ownership of Zamindari and Maharaji embankments to the WRD of the State. Around forty years have passed and the issue is yet to be resolved. The WRD, however, exercises its ownership over these embankments when it suits them.

The Report further says that “…The reason for such wide divergence in opinion is obviously due to the inadequacy of sufficient number of performance evaluation studies of existing embankments and the divergent views on their performance.” What prevents these concerned departments from conducting such performance evaluation studies and leave the conclusion on to the opinion poll of individuals and NGOs. What are the departments there for if they cannot review the results of their own doing and act accordingly?

It suggests that the critics are “…justified to some extent because improperly designed, constructed, spaced and poorly maintained flood control work without due regard to river morphology etc have not given much relief to flood problem in some areas.” Is it this our Irrigation and Flood Control Departments were doing for the past 58 years since independence? Are they there for improperly designing, spacing, and poorly maintaining flood control works without due regard to river morphology? 

Dinesh Kumar Mishra
Convenor-Barh Mukti Abhiyan
C-7 Vatika Green City  PO  MGMC
Dimna Road  Jamshedpur  831018
Ph: 0657-2650844  Mob: 09431303360
E-mail  mishrdadk@...

2nd June 2005

  Flood Dispatch-5 / 2005.

The Sinking Foundation of Task Force Report (2005) -1

Comments on the Report of the Task Force For Flood Management /Erosion Control have been awaited since long and here are some details.

The report that was submitted to the Government of India in December 2004 and no one ever talked about the same, at least, in Bihar. While the floods are knocking at the doorstep, the repairs of the embankments in Bihar is still incomplete and, as the reports suggest, only 40 per cent of the work has been completed so far.

It was only an through an article written by former Minister of Agriculture at the Center, Chaturanan Mishra (Dinik Hindustan 22nd March 2005) about the recommendations of the report that the people in Bihar came to know that the report has been submitted. This was followed by some stray reports in the media suggesting the submission of the report. Unfortunately, the data on which this report is based are wrong and misleading. This is true for Bihar, it may be true for other states too.

It was reported that the flood affected area of the state had touched a worst ever figure of 49.86 lakh hectares, in 2004. This year’s flood was restricted to 20 districts of north Bihar (barring Siwan and Saran) whose total area is 48.94 LH. The Disaster Management Department of Bihar was continuously mentioning in its reports, till almost the end of August, that 49.86 lakh hectares of land is flooded in north Bihar. This would mean that the flooded area was more than the actual area of the concerned districts. When attention was drawn to this flaw in a local newspaper (Dainik Hindustan, Patna dated 26th August 2004) that the flood affected area of the state suddenly slumped down to 23.49 lakh hectares (Report- Department of Disaster Management, dated 1st September 2004 onwards).

Despite this reduction of the flood affected area, the memorandum submitted to the Central Team by the Bihar State contained the flood affected area of the state as 49.86 lakh hectares and computation of losses and the requests made for relief must have been based on these inflated figures. It is amazing that none of the three concerned departments like the Disaster Management, the Water Resources and the Department of Statistics ever bothered to look into the discrepancy. If the mistake is deliberate, it smacks of conspiracy and if it is a slip, it speaks volumes about the casual way the issues that hit the public are handled in the country from Junior Engineer to Task Force level. Disturbing feature of the entire episode is that the even the Central Team that visited Bihar (starting 13th September 2004) after the floods, did not locate the mistake. The discrepancy went un-noticed in the Prime Minister’s Office too. And now the Task Force also reports the same. Needless to say that the Task Force represents the galaxy of Indian engineers in the field of water.

The report further says that maximum number of 1153 flood deaths in the state occurred in 1993 which again is wrong. The maximum death toll in Bihar was recorded in 1987 when it was put at 1399. Similarly, maximum number of people affected during floods in any year was 286.62 lakhs, again in 1987, and not 24.489 million which the report wants people to believe. Since this has happened with Bihar, there is every reason to believe that it must have happened in case of the other states too. Actually, the entire effort was to highlight the 2004 flood and present the data that suited this purpose.

The report refers to the National  Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the UPA Government at more than one occasion. One only hopes that the Government would take notice of the shortcomings of the report and more so when it hopes to get cooperation from the public. The repot talks about the international partners like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and China etc but does not talk about Interlinking of Rivers. Did UPA formally shunned the Riverlinking Programme and that too  before December 2004.  Or else, the Task Force knows what it should say and what it should avoid.


Dinesh Kumar Mishra
Convenor-Barh Mukti Abhiyan
C-7 Vatika Green City  PO  MGMC
Dimna Road  Jamshedpur  831018
Ph: 0657-2650844  Mob: 09431303360
E-mail  mishrdadk@...

1st June 2005