Flood in Bihar__UpdatingU

Water and Bihar

Managing water has never been a priority in Bihar. One of the modern rulers’ ‘karma’ sent Ganga Ma to a distance of seven kilometers away from Patna ghats. The other ruler made Kosi ma so angry that she changed her normal course and thereby the catastrophe.

Floods have been a common phenomenon all across the Indian state of Bihar – unfortunately, also the least developed region in the country. So much so that river Kosi, a major river that passes through the state is more popular as the Sorrow of Bihar. Now, this sorrow has turned into grief and a catastrophic one at that, with the river changing its course and inundating a large part of the state.

Around 15 days ago, river Kosi broke open its embankment in the Northern part of the state (bordering Nepal) to pick up a channel it had abandoned over 200 years ago, drowning towns, numerous villages and rendering over a million homeless in the process.

This is the biggest disaster in the history of independent India and by far the most challenging rescue and relief work ever carried out in the country is now under operation.

On 18th August, 2008, three days after India celebrated 61 years of her independence, river Kosi in Bihar picked up a channel it had abandoned over 200 years ago. The river broke its embankment at Kushua in neighbouring Nepal and submerged several districts of Nepal and India. 95% of the total flow of river Kosi is now flowing through this new course. Ever since the embankment broke, water has been constantly flowing in and over 15 districts in the state of Bihar are now 8-10 feet under water.

The breach in the river embankment has not only resulted in the river changing its course, the river is now flowing through areas that have never experienced major flooding. Millions of acres of human habitation and farmlands have thus gotten submerged in the river waters displacing more than 2.5 million people in the State.

Rains and continuous water flow has also made evacuation and disaster management difficult, in a region which is otherwise the poorest in the country. When it doesn’t rain, it gets extremely hot, aggravating the suffering of the displaced population, particularly for children, pregnant and lactating women and the aged.

Roads are reported to be damaged and water and electricity supplies in the affected districts have been seriously disrupted. Railway tracks have been submerged and essential commodities, including food, are being transported by boat.

Things were never too good in the state. The politics of the state has been such that it never let it prosper and with the best minds (actually, all minds) migrating to other states and mega-cities like Delhi and Mumbai, it was always left to the short-sighted politicians and the largely uneducated and rural population. The floods have now washed a major part of the state (quite literally) as if to have cleared the slate. Hopefully, not only will Bihar get some attention but also a dedicated and much needed development policy. Written by Govind Singh
27-yr-old Kosi barrage had 25-year lifespan

Tue, Sep 2 02:26 AM

The Kosi Barrage was built in 1956 with a lifespan of 25 years but 27 years since its “expiry date”, the barrage has not been replaced by a more permanent arrangement. Today, Kosi in Nepal flows three metres above the surrounding land and the barrage has far served its working year of 1981.

Many analysts say it was a problem which was waiting to burst at its seam. India is entirely responsible for repair and maintenance work and operation of the barrage, as per the bilateral agreement signed in 1954. This year, however, there have been no major repairs done.

A cash strapped ministry of water resources demand for grants show there has been no money allocated for the maintenance of flood protection work for Kosi this year. The same has been the case for 2007-08 and a paltry sum of Rs 2.5 crore being spent in 2006-07 as a part of grant-in-aid.

Flood forecasting on rivers common to India and Nepal suffer from similar fate as no amount has been assigned for such activity. The past two years have also not seen a single penny been spent on such activities. The day Nepal’s new Prime Minister Prachanda took oath of office and India was busy showing its anguish over the Nepali Prime Minister’s first visit being to China, the Kosi burst its banks and roared down to the plains of Bihar.

The government belatedly realised the seriousness of the crisis and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described it as a “natural calamity”. Cries of building the Kosi high dam, which will create a reservoir stretching from Sunsari to Ramechhap in Nepal, has now renewed. For the year 2008-09 not a single penny has been earmarked by the government for the survey and investigation of Kosi high dam project. The same was the fate in 2007-08. In 2006-07 an amount of Rs 5.19 crore was spent on the project. About 40 million hectare or nearly 1/8th of India’s geographical area is flood-prone. The plains of north Bihar are some of the most susceptible areas in India, prone to flooding.

Kosi river has changed its course, now flowing through a fresh channel some 120 km to the east, which has no levees or protective embankments. The worst hit districts are Araria, Madhepura, Supaul and Purnea. Drained by two major rivers, the Kosi and Gandak, and several smaller systems such as Burhi Gandak, Baghmati and Kamla-Balan, the plains of north Bihar have experienced extensive and frequent loss of life and property over the last several decades.

The Kosi river is well-known in India for rapid and frequent avulsions of its course and the extensive flood damages it causes almost every year.

The river is one of the major tributaries of the Ganga, and rises in the Nepal Himalayas. After traversing through the Nepal Himalayas, it enters India near Bhimnagar. Thereafter, it flows through the plains of north Bihar and joins Ganga near Kursela, after traversing for 320 km from Chatra. The river has been causing a lot of destruction by lateral movement and extensive flooding.

As its waters carry heavy silt load and the river has a steep gradient, the river has a tendency to move sideways. Experts say in about 200 years the river has moved laterally by about 150 km.

To check the lateral movement as well as for flood control, embankments on both sides of the river were constructed, 5 to 16 km apart. Although this has confined the lateral shift of the river within the embankments, flooding could not be controlled.

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Flood situation grim in Bihar, more areas affected

Sun, Aug 31 12:22 PM

Patna/Saharsa, Aug 31 (IANS) The surging waters of the Kosi river continued to rise in Bihar, inundating fresh areas as hundreds of villages remained under water on the 14th day of the floods Sunday and millions were displaced and crying for rescue.

The water level in the flooded areas rose by two to three feet in several places as the river inundated fresh areas in Saharsa, Supaul, Araria and Madhepura – the worst-hit districts late Saturday night.

An official of the state disaster management department said here Sunday that nearly 400,000 marooned people have been evacuated and about 150,000 people sheltered in 170 relief camps set up in the affected districts.

Meanwhile, angry villagers demanded that the worst flood-hit districts of Madhepura, Supaul, Araria and Saharsa be ‘handed over’ to the Indian Army to save the hundreds of thousands still trapped.

‘It is high time the state government handed over the districts to the army to save the lives of marooned people,’ said Mundeshwar Yadav, a resident of Madhepura and now sheltered in a relief camp in Saharsa, about 225 km from here.

‘People have lost faith in the state government and patience is running out,’ said Bhola Sah, another flood victim at a relief camp.

On Sunday, over 200,000 cusecs water entered the state through the breached embankment of the Kosi river.

Officials admitted that the flood situation in Bihar continued to be grim with millions of displaced crying for rescue.

A case was filed against Water Resources Development Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav and some officials, holding them responsible for a breach in an embankment of the Kosi that triggered the devastating flood.

The case was filed in the court of the chief judicial magistrate in Saharsa district Saturday.

Farmer leader Chatri Yadav in his petition said that the minister and some engineers were responsible for the breach in the river embankment. He filed a case after the local police station refused to lodge a case against the minister.

The farmer leader has urged the court to send the minister to jail, official sources said. The court has fixed Tuesday for hearing the case.

Earlier, a Patna-based lawyer Shruti Singh filed a public suit in the Patna High Court seeking the court’s direction to plug the breach. The court is likely to hear the case in a day or two.

Opposition leaders have also blamed the minister for the breach that has caused the worst floods in the last 50 years.

The floods have claimed 35 lives, including 20 on Friday when a boat they were travelling in capsized in Madhepura.

According to official sources, over 2.5 million people have been affected by the floods in 1,598 villages spread over 15 districts.

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Three million displaced in Bihar floods
Enlarge Photo Indian air force personnel drop food from a helicopter in the flood-affected area of Kumarkhad…
Enlarge Photo Indian air force personnel drop food from a helicopter in the flood-affected area of Kumarkhad…

Sun, Aug 31 03:54 PM

PATNA, India (Reuters) – Authorities struggling to provide aid after devastating floods in Bihar said on Sunday they needed more boats and rescuers to help hundreds of thousands of people still marooned in remote villages.

Bad weather and heavy rain over the past few days have hampered rescue and relief operations in the worst-ever floods to hit Bihar state in 50 years, officials said.

“I can’t say specifically how many people are still stranded in floods,” Nitish Mishra, the state’s disaster management minister said on Sunday.

“But their numbers are in lakhs (hundreds of thousands) and we require more resources, more boats, army and rescue efforts to evacuate them.”

Floods have killed more than 1,000 people in South Asia since the monsoon began in June, mainly in Uttar Pradesh, where 785 people died, and deaths were also reported in Nepal and Bangladesh.

In Bihar, the toll rose to 90 on Sunday with five more people drowning overnight in separate districts.

At least 3 million people have been displaced and those figures could rise as heavy rain continued, officials said.

Television pictures showed villagers holding on to tails of cattle as they crossed flooded roads with belongings on their heads. Some were seen frantically waving at a few boatmen to come and rescue them.

“I presented my buffalo to the boatman in exchange for a place in his boat since I don’t have any money,” Shambhoo Yadav, a rescued villager said.

Authorities also complained that thousands of villagers have refused to be evacuated and go to camps, saying they wanted to stay back and protect their belongings.

The latest flooding occurred after the Kosi river burst a dam in neighbouring Nepal earlier this month and changed its course, swamping hundreds of villages in Bihar and destroying more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of farmlands.

In Nepal, officials said repairing the dam was under way but turning the river back to its original course would take time.

At least seven people were killed in monsoon floods and landslides in Nepal on Saturday, raising the monsoon-related death toll in the Himalayan nation to more than 100 this year.

NO RELIEF

Villagers in Bihar complained that relief was not reaching them and many are living without food for three-four days.

“We ate after nearly a week today,” Manohar Prasad, a rescued villager from flood-hit Madhepura district told reporters at a camp near Patna. “Some people donated us money,” he said, while eating some bread.

The Bihar government has been severely criticised by newspapers for failing to act in time to evacuate villagers.

More than 350,000 people have been evacuated over the past 11 days, officials said, admitting they did not have enough boats or resources to step up relief operations.

A Reuters photographer in Bihar said people were fighting among themselves to lay their hands on air-dropped food.

Cases of diarrhoea were beginning to be reported from many relief camps in the state, UNICEF said.

(Additional reporting by Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu)

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Bihar floods: Biggest relief operations on

Mon, Sep 1 01:30 AM

NAVY PERSONNEL on Sunday joined the army columns in saving the lives of thousands of people still trapped in the swirling waters of the Kosi as the flood situation in Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Saharsa worsened on the 14th day of the catastrophe. With this, all the three wings of the defence forces – army, navy and air force – have joined one of the biggest rescue and relief operations in Bihar.

“Two columns of the army have been sent to Triveniganj, one of the worst affected blocks of Supaul,” said Additional Commissioner, Disaster Management Department, Pratyaya Amrit. He said the state government had chalked out a strategic plan to evacuate people from the worst hit blocks of Triveniganj, Chhatapur (Supaul), Murliganj, Udakishunganj, Bihariganj and Gualpara in Madhepura with the help of army and navy teams.

The state government has requested for 25 more columns of the army for evacuating people from the marooned areas. “So far, 15 columns of the army and three columns of the navy have arrived.

This is in addition to 4 columns of the army already carrying out the relief operation,” he said. Besides, six IAF choppers are already engaged in air dropping of food packets.

Till Sunday, 4.67 lakh people have been evacuated to safer places and moved to 172 relief camps operating in the affected districts, he claimed. Home ministry officials in Delhi, who are part of the National Crisis Management Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar, said 243 boats had been deployed for rescue operations so far.

Also, a special train has been sent on Sunday containing 4 lakh bottles of potable water. But there was recognition that the tragedy required the government to step up efforts.

About 18 tonnes of plastic sheets have been sent, but they would be able to accommodate just 3,000 families. Meanwhile, Madhepura continued to be submerged under six-feet water.

Floodwaters have engulfed some more areas. However, the Disaster Management Department sources said that the water has receded by 6 inches in the town on Sunday.

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After the deluge

Tue, Sep 2 02:23 AM

All the political acrimony within Bihar and between New Delhi and Kathmandu does not hide a simple fact: more modern methods of river water management in the eastern Himalayas would at least have mitigated some of the worst consequences of the Kosi floods in Nepal and Bihar. That governance of even the elementary kind has eroded in Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar and Nepal is not news. Beyond that, there is enough blame to be spread between New Delhi and Kathmandu. Together, the two nations have allowed accumulated old-think to prevail over enlightened self-interest when it comes to bilateral relations. Although the rivers run from Nepal into India, the former behaves like an insecure lower riparian state while India pretends to be the arrogant upper riparian. This paradoxical political inversion of geography is, of course, rooted in the asymmetric relationship between the two countries.

A small-state syndrome and a cultivated anti-India attitude among the Nepali political class have prevented Kathmandu from exploiting its immense water resources for national benefit in cooperation with New Delhi. India, for its part, has been slow to see its own huge stakes in the rapid economic advancement of Nepal and slower in devising creative policies for deepening the bonds with Kathmandu. New Delhi’s failure has less to do with hegemonic aspirations, which many Nepalese have come to believe in, than the lack of strategic imagination towards smaller neighbours. The emergence of a new government in Kathmandu led by the Maoists, the Kosi floods, and the plans of Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda to visit India this month provide an opportunity for New Delhi to consider a purposeful redirection of the very historic and special ties with Kathmandu.

At the heart of India’s new approach must be a public offer to Prachanda to scrap the unequal 1950 bilateral treaty of peace and friendship and begin immediate negotiations on a new one that Nepal finds comfortable. Having done exactly that with a similar 1949 treaty with Bhutan two years ago, the UPA government’s credibility on this score is high. India must couple the political commitment to build a relationship with Nepal on the basis of sovereign equality with a comprehensive economic plan for shared prosperity in the eastern Himalayas. This would involve developing effective trans-national water management, trans-border road and rail networks, joint tourism projects, especially the Buddhist circuit, and transit trade with China through Nepal, to name a few. Modernisation of political ties with Nepal, in the end, is about accelerating economic development in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

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Damming the deluge

Tue, Sep 2 02:23 AM

It was gracious of the PM to declare Kosi floods a “national calamity” after an aerial survey of the vast area reeling under the fury of Kosi. Since it suddenly changed its course after breaching its embankment in Nepal on August 18, Kosi has moved 120 km eastward, inundating huge tracks of low land in hundreds of villages across a large number of districts in east Bihar. The Central government has also pledged an immediate assistance of Rs 1,000 crore as well as1.25 lakh tonnes of foodgrain to the Bihar government in order to tackle the calamity in right earnest.Â

Going back a few decades in the history, can one imagine that the Central government in 1956 had conceived of a plan to construct a dam on the Kosi at Barahkshetra in Nepal at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore? Apart from controlling the flood, the dam was expected to irrigate 1.25 million hectares of land and produce 3,300 MW of electricity. The project was eventually shelved, apparently due to cost factor.Â

Bihar has the distinction of being the most flood-affected state of the country, accounting for about 17 per cent of the flood-prone area of the country. Even if we discount the loss of infrastructure and crops costing thousands of crores of rupees, the tragedy affecting the lives of people and cattle can not and should not be discounted. It is not only the loss of lives, but the uprooting, the separation from near and dear ones, the trauma and uncertainties faced by children and the washing away of the lifelong earnings of poor families, which constitute the tragedy. If there is an agreement on this aspect of tragedy, we should analyse whether, if a solution is available, the government should have tried that, whatever the cost? Especially if people know that the disaster affecting them could have been averted if timely measures were taken. Â

Embankment is only a temporary solution, especially for a river that brings in a lot of silt. Scientists and hydrologists all over the world agree that flood can be controlled only if there is control of discharge. Embankments can at best prevent water from spreading. However, if there is heavy silting (as is the case with Kosi), it puts pressure on the river’s spurs and embankments. The breach of embankment at Kusaha is no disaster. If the breach which is growing by over 200 meters a day, reaches the Bhimnagar barrage which is only 12 km away, and the barrage which crossed its estimated life span of 30 years some 22 years back gives in, it will be a real calamity. Paradoxically, when the idea of dam construction was dropped, construction of Kosi Barrage, also called Bhimnagar barrage (following an agreement between India and Nepal), with embankments below and above the barrage was taken up as a temporary measure. The effort could not take off beyond construction and repair of embankments year after year for several reasons. One main reason was a lack of agreement between the governments of Nepal and India. It need s to be appreciated that there is no international convention regulating water-sharing between upper and lower riparian states and therefore a bilateral agreement between two countries, where the upper riparian country has obviously an upper hand, needs to be reached with lot of groundwork. Somehow, this could never happen. It is estimated that in 1954, when the state had 160 km of embankment, the flood prone area was only 2.5 million hectares. In 2002, the embankment is 3,430 kms and the flood prone area has gone up to 6.88 million hectares. Â

It is believed that when the case of prioritisation of projects was being considered by Pandit Nehru due to fund constraints, Pratap Singh Kairon turned out to be more convincing than Srikrishna Singh, and therefore Bhakra Nagal Project was taken up in preference to Barahkshetra. Bihar lost its race to Punjab in becoming the granary of the country. The long term consequence of that one decision is more telling – from being among the top three states of the country in terms of per capita income and administration in the early ’50s, Bihar has languished at the bottom of the ladder for decades. We need to understand why a serious effort has not been made to address the issues. The financial losses caused due to recurring devastation, coupled with the hundreds of crores of rupees spent on embankments year after year, would easily set aside the financial problem theory. Even though the immediate cause of the present disaster is the negative approach of the Nepal government, in that it allowed (or encouraged?) local resistance to the repair work that was being attempted by Bihar engineers to plug the breach at Kusaha in Nepal, relations have been sufficiently cordial, so as not to frustrate a project that would benefit both countries.Â

Of the Himalayan component of the National Perspective Plan prepared by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), 6 river links are directly related to Bihar. These are Kosi-Mechi, Kosi-Ghagra, Chunar-Sone Barrage, Sone Dam – Southern tributaries of Ganga, Gandak-Ganga and the Brahmaputra-Ganga (Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga) link canal. As part of the project, a multi-purpose high dam across river Kosi is proposed near the village Barahkshetra in Nepal. Besides the high dam, a barrage across Kosi river is also planned near village Chatra, 10-12 km below the dam, to transfer water to Mechi river through the Kosi-Mechi link canal. The Barahkshetra dam, the Chatra barrage and the Kosi-Mechi link will not only control the danger of recurrent floods, they will also bring in much needed prosperity to Nepal and plains of east Bihar through irrigation and hydro-power supply.Â

Let the present devastation catalyse the decision to undertake the projects which have been deferred for decades, especially because there is a potential to turn the state around in one go. The sympathy factor stemming from human tragedy and the backlash generated against Nepal can be leveraged to expedite these projects.

The writer is joint secretary, CSIR

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Centre exposes Bihar govt’s failure on flood fury

Tue, Sep 2 06:24 PM

A blame game after the unprecedented floods in Bihar came to the fore with the state government being accused by the Centre of not sending a scheme for works to be executed on the damaged dams on the Nepal section of the Kosi river.

Just a day after a state government report of August 17 said all the embankments were safe, the Centre was suddenly informed that erosions were taking place at the Kosi dam in Upper Nepal on Bahothal for the past several days, Union Minister of State for water Resources Jaiprakash Yadav said on board a special train in Purnia.

The state government also said some anti-social elements have forced out labourers working to protect the embankment, he said.

“We sanctioned about Rs 80 lakh for the repair of the embankment and I was asked by Lalu Prasad to rush to Bihar to prepare the assessment report,” Yadav said.

On his return to New Delhi after an aerial survey of flood-hit areas in Bihar, Yadav met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to inform them of the situation.

The Ministry of Water Resources Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC) Director Co-ordination S S Chaudhary had written to the engineer-in-chief (North) Water Resource Department of Bihar on April 1, asking about flood protection works on the Kosi being done on the recommendations of Kosi High-Level Committee (KHLC), Yadav said.

“The estimate/scheme framed by the state govt as per recommendations of KHLC for the works to be taken up in Nepal portion before the floods of this year was not received in S S Chaudhary’s office,” he added.

“It was also requested that a copy of the estimate/scheme duly approved by competent authority together with relevant drawings for the work to be done on river Kosi in Nepal portion on the recommendation KHLC for the protection works before the flood of 2008,” he said.

Two reminders were sent, on April 25 and June 12, from Chaudhary’s office in reference to his earlier letter asking for a copy of the scheme approved by the competent authority, Yadav said adding the Centre wanted the information but did not receive it.

On August 15, a report stating that all the embankments in Bihar were safe was received by the Union Ministry for Water Resources.

There were indications of some rise in swirling waters 543-569 centimetres above the danger mark at Basua at Kursela, Yadav said.

Subsequently on August 16, another report on embankment position said the water-level had reached 39 cm and 74 cm above the danger-mark at Basua and Kursela and the river was flowing 21 cm below the danger mark at Malda.

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BJP to PM: Allow use of MPLAD funds to provide relief to Bihar flood victims

Tue, Sep 2 07:05 PM

New Delhi, Sept.2 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today appealed to the UPA Government to change the way it dealt with natural calamities like floods and earthquakes.

In a letter written to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, BJP President Rajnath Singh said that the existing stipulation that Members of Parliament are not allowed to use MPLAD funds outside their constituencies should be relaxed as a special case.

Singh further went on to add that such a step was taken during the time of the Gujarat earthquake in January 2001 and again during the Asian Tsunami in December 2004.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad today announced that he was donating Rs.25 lakh to the Bihar Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to help the flood victims in that state. He also endorsed the party’s view that lawmakers should be allowed to use their funds to help the flood victims in Bihar.

Over three lakh people are still marooned in remote locations of Bihar. The floods have affected over 2.5 million people in 1,598 villages spread over 15 districts of the state.

The Army has carried out massive rescue and relief operations in the flood affected districts of Bihar and a large number of marooned people have been evacuated to safer places. About 20,000 to 25,000 people are being evacuated daily, said Colonel Raj Shukla, who is in charge of coordinating the relief operations.

The BJP missive came as the Central Government blamed the Bihar Government for not sending a scheme for works to be executed on the damaged dams on the Nepal section of the Kosi river.

The Centre claimed that it was only informed on August 18 that erosions were taking place at the Kosi dam in Upper Nepal on Bahothal for the past several days. Union Minister of State for water Resources Jaiprakash Yadav said on board a special train here that just the day before, he had received a report from the State Government that said all embankments were safe.

“We sanctioned about Rs 80 lakh for the repair of the embankment and I was asked by Lalu Prasad to rush to Bihar to prepare the assessment report,” Yadav said.

On his return to New Delhi after an aerial survey of flood-hit areas in Bihar, Yadav met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to inform them of the situation.

The Ministry of Water Resources Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC) Director Co-ordination S S Chaudhary had written to the engineer-in-chief (North) Water Resource Department of Bihar on April 1, asking about flood protection works on the Kosi being done on the recommendations of Kosi High-Level Committee (KHLC), Yadav said.

“The estimate/scheme framed by the state government as per recommendations of KHLC for the works to be taken up in Nepal portion before the floods of this year was not received in S S Chaudhary’s office,” he added.

“It was also requested that a copy of the estimate/scheme duly approved by competent authority together with relevant drawings for the work to be done on river Kosi in Nepal portion on the recommendation KHLC for the protection works before the flood of 2008,” he said.

Two reminders were sent, on April 25 and June 12, from Chaudhary’s office in reference to his earlier letter asking for a copy of the scheme approved by the competent authority, Yadav said adding the Centre wanted the information but did not receive it.

On August 15, a report stating that all the embankments in Bihar were safe was received by the Union Ministry for Water Resources.

There were indications of some rise in swirling waters 543-569 centimetres above the danger mark at Basua at Kursela, Yadav said.

Subsequently on August 16, another report on embankment position said the water-level had reached 39 cm and 74 cm above the danger-mark at Basua and Kursela and the river was flowing 21 cm below the danger mark at Malda. (ANI with inputs)

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Kosi repair starts, but Nepal holds key to long-term solution

Wed, Sep 3 02:22 AM

As Bihar grapples with the worse flood in its history, caused by the marauding Kosi river, work has started to repair the breach and ensure the river flows through its original path.

When the swollen Kosi river burst its banks in a part of Nepal just north of the border with India, it changed course, now flowing through a fresh channel some 120 km to the east, it has no levees or protective embankments. The worst hit districts were Araria, Madhepura, Supaul and Purnea.

The Kosi barrage built in 1964 was meant to hold 9.3 lakh cusecs of water so that the plains of Bihar and not flooded.

Two afflux bund or channels were created on the either side to reduce the pressure on the barrage and provide irrigation to the region. On the western side the afflux bund, made of compact mud, is 12-km-long while on the eastern side the bund is 32 km long.

The bunds are periodically maintained by the government of Bihar to ensure their strength and to withhold a Kosi in spate. This year, however, no such repairs were done. Due to heavy silt deposit (see chart) the Kosi had a tendency to move eastwards. The yearly repairs ensured that the bunds were able to hold the water of the river in its normal course.

This year the bunds gave away and 1.3 km breach in the eastern afflux bund and 80% of the river water rushed through the breach while 20% of the river continued its normal route.

Now a team of experts, comprising from the centre and the state have chalked out a plan to get the river back on course.

The idea is to go upstream from the breach side and divert the water away from the afflux bund. This would allow the bund to be repaired and ensure normal course of the river.

To divert the river water from the bund, the method will be a choice between concrete porcupine, wire crating or nylon crating.

“Depending on the flow and depth of water either one of these techniques will be used. If the depth and flow is less, then wire crating or nylon crating will be used. If the flow and depth is high then concrete porcupine would be used,” said central water commission chairman A K Bajaj.

Porcupine is a revolutionary and versatile concrete block retaining wall system. It needs no mortar and requires the minimum of plant and machinery for installation. The individual Porcupine element is an interlocking curved concrete block, which achieves its stability by the grooves on the top surface of one block matching the splines on the bottom of another.

The flow of water over the past few days have reduced. From 1.7 lakh cusecs of water on Saturday the amount of water discharged was 1.2 lakh cusecs on Monday. “Work has started on the diverting the water by government of Bihar and CWC is providing the technical help,” Bajaj said.

Weather permitting, Bajaj said the work on getting the river back on course and repairing the breach does not have to wait till November. “Work has already started and we have ensured the breach doest not increase any more. One does not have to wait till the end of the monsoon period to mend the breach.”

This, however, is not the long-term solution. Bajaj stressed that in future it is imperative to construct the Kosi High Dam.

“The Kosi High Dam is the only long term and feasible solution,” Bajaj said.

For Kosi High Dam to become a reality, the government of India will have to negotiate hard with the Nepali government. The detailed project report (DPR), which was being formulated by the two countries, was abruptly put on hold two years back after Nepal showed its disinterest in the dam.

The DPR would cost the government about Rs 150 crore and a dam of the magnitude envisaged would cost several more crore. However, given the present crisis and suffering, no cost can be greater.

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Mother Kosi, pardon us, they say to a river

Wed, Sep 3 09:53 AM

Patna, Sep 3 (IANS) Left helpless and desperate by the wrath of the Kosi, hundreds of women in Bihar have turned to worshipping the river in the hope that it will relent and make the floods mitigate.

‘Mother Kosi is angry, we are offering prayers to appease her,’ said Parbhawati Devi, the resident of a village near a road linking Saharsa to Madhepura, two of the worst affected districts.

With the Kosi showing no signs of receding two weeks after it breached its embankment in Nepal and flooded Bihar, forcing thousands to flee their homes, Hindu women are offering flowers, fruits, earthen lamps and vermilion to the river.

India, where people have learnt to brave the vagaries of nature for centuries, has a tradition of deifying its rivers and worshipping them. The Kosi is known as Bihar’s ‘River of Sorrow’ for the havoc it can wreak.

Phulwa Devi and her mother-in-law Urmila Devi along with half a dozen women offered prayers and conducted rituals for half an hour at the river, hoping to make its waters recede.

‘Pardon us, do not punish us any more,’ said one of them.

Women are also singing folk songs to make the Kosi river happy and requesting it not to harm people any more. ‘We are singing folk songs to help calm the angry Kosi,’ Urmila Devi, another housewife near Murliganj in Madhepura, said.

Reports from Farbisganj in Araria district said special prayers are being offered to the river by hundreds of people. In some places, villagers are sacrificing goats, hens and other birds.

Even Muslims are offering special prayers in mosques to seek the safety of flood-hit people.

Over 2.5 million people in 1,598 villages spread over 15 districts have been affected by the floods while at least 35 people have died.

Unlike annual floods, there is little hope that the waters of the Kosi will recede soon. The waters could be there till October and people have no option but to move to safer places, say officials.

The unrelenting floods have caused stress to many.

‘We are severely traumatised by the possibility of the water entering our homes,’ 63-year-old retired engineer Mohammad Salim Mansoori said on phone from Purnea district.

‘As an engineer of the Kosi river project, I have worked for years and am aware of its character and danger. The Kosi is notorious for changing its course.

‘So far we are safe but we are not sure what will happen. We have shifted to our roof with whatever food grains we have. Hundreds of families are stressed.’

‘Several elderly people are falling ill because of stress. Even my neighbour, Abdurrahman, suffered a stroke.’

‘How can we vacate our home? If we do it, we may lose our belongings and if we don’t we may face the danger of floods. We have sent the younger members of the family to a safe place.’

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Advani to PM: Solve Bihar flood problem quickly

Wed, Sep 3 04:35 PM

New Delhi, Sep 3 (ANI): Senior BJP leader LK Advani met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today to seek a solution to the problem of recurrent floods in Bihar, where around 25 lakh people have been rendered homeless in the worst ever floods in the Kosi region.

Advani urged Dr. Singh to find both long and short term solutions to the problem of recurrent floods in Bihar.

Advani, who made an aerial survey of flood-ravaged regions of Bihar along with State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday, said, “Since the recurrent floods in Bihar caused by rivers originating in Nepal have international dimensions, I would meet the Prime Minister on Wednesday to seek both long and short term solutions to the problem in coordination with the government in the Himalayan country,”

“In today’s situation, everybody should come together to help rather than indulging in mud sledging,” Advani added.

The state’s main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had earlier lashed out at the state administration, accusing it of laxity in providing relief to the flood victims.

The flooding, the worst in 50 years, was caused after the Kosi River breached a dam in Nepal. This unleashed huge waves of water that smashed mud embankments downstream in Bihar state.

The waters of Kosi gushed into the state inundating vast areas and affecting around two million people. (ANI)

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Religious differences ‘sink’ in Kosi floods

Wed, Sep 3 05:34 PM

The Kosi may have changed its course killing and displacing many in Bihar, but the river has also ‘sank’ religious differences as evident in relief camps where RSS men were seen serving food to Muslims.

Clad in khaki shorts and caps, RSS men are serving gram and flattened rice to Muslim flood victims in a relief camp at Saharsa.

The camp being run by ‘Seva Bharti’, a Sangh Parivar outfit, at the zila school campus at Saharsa presents a rare but heartening sight where the devastating deluge of Kosi has sunk bitterness and differences.

“Over a 100 people of my community are taking shelter here for more than a week now and we have absolutely no complaint. Life cannot be better than this in a relief shelter,” says Mohammed Salauddin, who fled Parba village in Madhepura district along with his family to escape the flood fury.

In another camp, a kilometre away, a joyful reunion was taking place. The prayers of Phulo Devi, who has observed fasts on all occasions of ‘Teej’, have been answered.

Nago Paswan, her husband, who works as a farmhand in far away Punjab and had not visited their village in Murliganj in Madhepura for the last couple of years, rushed home when he learned of the flood havoc, but was stranded at Saharsa.

As luck would have it, he met Phulo and his children Rinku, Mamta and Rahul at the relief camp.

“I am relieved that my family is alive. I had given up hope after watching on TV the destruction caused in Murliganj,” says Nago.

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Assistance of Army engineers, BRO offered to repair Bheem barrage on Kosi

Wed, Sep 3 06:35 PM

New Delhi, Sep 3 (ANI): The Centre has assured all possible assistance to the Bihar government in the wake of the ongoing flood relief and rescue operations and a high level Central team has offered the help of Army engineers and the Border Roads Organisation for repair of the Bheem barrage on river Kosi where the breach took place.

A high-level team of the officials from the Centre lead by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar met the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior state officials in Patna on Tuesday.

The Cabinet Secretary informed the Chief Minister about the ongoing relief operations carried out by the armed forces and other central agencies and assured him that the efforts would continue in full swing.

He has asked the state administration to provide the details of further assistance required by them. Kumar appreciated the assistance given by the Armed Forces and desired that the main focus should be on rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

He sought for more columns of Army for evacuation of the marooned persons and the Air Force for dropping of relief material.

The State Relief Commissioner has requested for more supplies of food, medicines and baby food. He has also sought veterinary services and establishment of relief camps wherever the railway heads are available.

He also emphasized that efforts should be strengthened for evacuation of the stranded people. The Indian Air Force is operating 11 helicopters, 3 IL-76, 13 AN-32 and 2 Avro aircraft for evacuation and dropping of relief materials.

About 100 boats are being sent to the flood affected areas today.

Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources U N Panjiar, Secretary Border Management Jarnail Singh and other senior officials accompanied the Cabinet Secretary. (ANI)

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On a train from flooded Bihar – to new beginnings

Thu, Sep 4 03:41 PM

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Two years ago, the waters claimed her husband. Now, with her two sons going missing in the raging floods that swept through her Bihar village, tragedy has again struck Madhu Devi – one of the many hundreds who found themselves on a crowded train to New Delhi escaping their watery hells.

She got off the Vikramshila Express from Bhagalpur that chugged into the station Wednesday. Peering through the bars of the windows of the third-class sleeper coaches were distressed eyes searching for a safe haven.

Madhu Devi stood confused on the platform, away from other flood victims who had accompanied her on the lone journey. This was not the first trip to New Delhi for the 48-year-old Madhubani artist, who had come earlier to sell her paintings at the Delhi Haat.

But she is lost, dazed into incomprehension by the flooding of the Kosi, known as the river of sorrow, that has once again washed away her dreams and her confidence in life. The family of four has been reduced to one.

Her two sons, aged 12 and 18, left home one day and didn’t return even hours after the river waters had flooded the village. Officials told her that they may not have survived.

‘My sons are my reason for being. Without them I don’t know how I’ll survive. My life, my home, my means of livelihood are lost,’ said Madhu Devi, clutching a small plastic bag with her few remaining possessions, some money and the address of a friend here.

‘All is meaningless. Chances are that the Kosi waters have taken them for good but I will not lose hope,’ she said, dressed in a cotton sari she had been given at a relief camp. But she doesn’t know where.

She does remember the ‘happier times’ though.

‘I have come here before, I sold my paintings here at an exhibition at Dilli Haat a few years ago. Those were happier times.’

After waiting for two days at a relief camp when she was given the opportunity to get on board a train to Delhi, she embraced it.

‘There is too much grief there, I don’t want to lose hope,’ she repeated.

Even in her sorrow, Madhu Devi is looking at the larger picture.

‘Floods wreak havoc in my district year after year. The only reason it is in the limelight is because of widespread devastation. That is why the government is finally paying attention but even now the boats are not enough, relief operations are poor.’

In the past few days, hundreds of victims like Madhu Devi have arrived here on the regular and special trains commissioned by the Indian Railways to rescue people from Bihar, where the Kosi has changed course flooding vast swathes of Bihar and affecting over 2.5 million people in 1,598 villages spread over 15 districts.

Most victims who have come here are women and children.

There are others too, like Rani Devi and her husband Manu from Madhepura district who have come with their grandchildren to start life afresh after the floods killed their son and daughter-in-law.

As she struggled to quieten the two children, a harried Rani Devi said: ‘The children don’t stop crying. They don’t realise their parents are no more. They are tired and probably sad when we cry. The younger one has been suffering from diarrhoea and we haven’t even been able to get him proper treatment.

‘We worked on a farm there and now that everything is flooded we had to leave. So we came here; maybe we will work as labourers,’ she contemplated.

Said Vinay Odhar, Action Aid coordinator from Bihar: ‘The inadequate livelihood camps and relief camps are forcing victims to migrate to safer places.’

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