Nitish govt at sea over floods

Jitendra K Shrivastava

Though floods strike northern Bihar almost every year, ravaging lives, destroying crops and displacing lakhs, the authorities seem to have learnt no lessons and have failed to devise a plan to eradicate the menace, even during 12 years of Nitish sarkar’s good governance.

 This year, the deluge has left 1.2 crore people homeless in 18 of the 38 districts in the state. It has claimed more than 250 lives. Officials, however, put the toll at 202. The figures are likely to rise with the situation deteriorating in several parts. Most of the affected districts are in the north, except Nalanda. 

Relief and rescue operations are proving to be inadequate. The state government has set up 1,336 relief camps sheltering 4.25 lakh victims. About 1,879 community kitchens are serving meals to the victims. As many as 2,228 personnel of the NDRF, SDRF and the Army are on the rescue mission. Food packets are being air-dropped too.

Breaches in embankments of small rivers, caused by poor maintenance and strong currents, are believed to have caused the floods. 

Why the flooding

Over a dozen of rivers originating from the Himalayan ranges pass through northern Bihar. In the rainy season, heavy rains in Nepal and the Himalayas swell these rivers that bring millions of tonnes of silt along which is deposited on the banks. Subsequently, the riverbeds have now risen 10-15 ft, rupturing embankments.

Since 1947, embankments have grown longer. Therefore, the flood-prone region, which was spread over 25 lakh hectares before 1950, now measures 68 lakh hectares. “Village connectivity by road in Bihar is ranked number one nationwide. But owing to lack of culverts and bridges, these village roads become an obstacle in the flow of flood waters, causing extensive damage. Poor maintenance of embankments is another issue,” explained Ranjiv  Kumar, an expert on the subject.

Member of the Flood Review Committee (FRC) Anil Prakash said prior to construction of embankments, flood waters would spread across 12-16 km. Silt would be deposited on the flood plains, turning the area fertile for agriculture. So, there were no deposits on the riverbeds.

“Floods are not confined to Bihar. These also occur in other states such as Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. In the event of heavy rains in Nepal, the Valmiki Nagar barrage on Budhi Gandak and the Birpur barrage on the Kosi release the water, the force of which breaks embankments.

“Despite the ill-effects and local protests, the Bihar Government has a fund of Rs 772 crore for the construction and repair of embankments,” he pointed out.

What must be done 

The Nitish Kumar-led government set up an 11-member Flood Review Committee (FRC) in May this year, asking it to submit a report on the basis of which it was to take action. Nitish has never sought assistance from the Centre to contain the flood menace. Floods have never been a part of the election manifesto of any party so far.

Experts say the natural flow of rivers must be restored and embankments removed. Also, there should be an adequate drainage system in place. Ponds and tanks must be renovated and water-harvesting and renovation of wells to recharge ground water must be undertaken.

A water policy needs to be formulated in coordination with CMs of flood-affected states and the Centre.