Floods in Bihar do not only bring thousands of cusecs of rain water from the catchment areas of Nepal.. Instead it brings billions of institutional finance and government fund for the vested interests and particularly for the contractors and bureaucrats. The officers prefer postings in the flood prone areas of the north Bihar.
Like previous years, this year too nearly 170 persons have lost their lives. Around 60 lakhs people have been marooned. This year too lakhs of poor people have migrated to the metros and other states deserting their home and hearth forever. This year too the victims of the floods have been the people from the districts Darbhanga, Saharsa, Samastipur of north Bihar.
Once Nepal opens its 56 sluice gates of Kosi barrage water levels in Bihar rise alarmingly. This has been the regular phenomenon. In the wake of the floods every year the officials blame overflowing of the Nepal rivers for flood devastation in Bihar. This year’s flooding of north Bihar preceded extreme rainfall. On a number of occasions in the past the government officials discussed the issue with their Nepali counter parts, but no move was initiated by them to find a solution to the issue.
The government officials responsible to monitor the rise in water levels of the rivers emanating from the catchment areas of Nepal often use the word “sudden rise of water levels” in Kosi, Bagmati, Kamka Balan, Gandak, Budhi Gandak and their tributaries for the crisis.
Significantly every year the officials come out with the assurance that floods would not visit the state. But the fact is always otherwise. On July 16, 2019 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told the Assembly that the state is “fully prepared to deal with” the flash floods. But, everyone be it activists or people have to bear the brunt. Entire north Bihar was severely ravaged. The intensity of the floods made it abundantly clear that like previous years this time too the state was unprepared for the unprecedented amount of rainfall as a result of it the entire north Bihar was completely atrophied.
Everyone living in villages near embankments in Supaul district failed to understand why the water level in river Koshi rose so high in July itself. The worst affected of the floods are the poor of the entire region. After floods recede they have to borrow for erecting their thatched houses and for arranging their two time meals.
Construction of embankments is supposed to the effective mechanism to keep floods in check, but in Bihar this is not the case. Even the bureaucrats are not aware that how effective are they? They are absolutely not effective. Every year theses dams are repaired once before the floods and second time after floods is over. True enough this is a technique to siphon government funds. The fact of the matter is the bureaucrats , government staff and contractors eagerly wait for the arrival of the floods.
The embankments were primarily constructed by the big zamindars more than hundred or more years back. Obviously over the years theses have become weak. But officials continue to repair them investing crores of funds. Significantly, some experts have questioned the dependence on embankments and underscored the need to look elsewhere, including drainage facilities. But the officials are unwilling to listen to their suggestions. It is a fact that embankments cannot mitigate floods in the long-term.
“The number of embankments on rivers from the Gandak to the Mahanadi spiralled 400 times between 1989 and 2018,” observed Dinesh Mishra of Barh Mukti Abhiyaan, an flood-mitigating drive. The problem, according to him, is the lack of drainage facilities. He said his suggestions on drainage received a diplomatic nod two-three years ago, but are yet to be implemented.
Shockingly between 1950 and 2018, flood-prone area in the state doubled to 49.16 million hectares. Mishra said “In 2014, the prime minister of India visited Nepal to revive a 22-year-old treaty which was about the construction of an 1800 Megawatt hydro-power project. Not much has been done on this. It will take around 20 years more to see any implementation of the dam. The decision for construction has to come from Nepal as it is upstream on the river”.
In the eyes of the ministers and bureaucrats the floods victims are not human beings is clearly manifest in their averse attitude and approach in reaching relief to them. The reports emanating from the flooded areas unravel the victims have been to lurch. Dozens of villages have been inundated that have forced people to flee their homes and seek shelter at safer places.
Floods and flash floods are not new to Bihar. In 2017, 2007, 2008 and 2004 the state was in the news for having the “worst flood ever”. According to official estimates, floods have claimed 6,028 lives in Bihar since 2000. In 2017 alone it claimed nearly 514 people.
Dinesh Mishra said the claim made by the government of full preparation for floods is rhetoric. He added. “I have been suggesting for years to merge the Water Resources Department and Disaster Management Department into one for smooth coordination of flood control and its management on the ground. But the government has hardly paid any heed to it. The government should know where the problem lies. Main approach should be to focus on how to prevent floods, not relief oriented policy”.
What worried most has been the lack of accountability on flood control. The government has to ensure accountability by making ministers to engineer in chief concerned responsible. Poor planning, corruption and government apathy contributed to the devastating floods.
The damage is also economic. Bihar is the fifth largest producer of rice in India, and agriculture experts say it will take a long time for the region to recover. “The impact of the floods will have a much larger regional effect,” said B.P. Singh, president of the All India Grain Exporters. (IPA Service)
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