Flooding in Bihar - from bad to worse

Bihar accounts for 17.2% of the flood-prone area of India. Floods creating havoc in over 20 districts of the state are confined by thousands of km. of embankments on both banks. This type of flood control measure has aggravated the problem. Millions of rupees are spent on maintenance of embankments in the cash-starved state. Yet, all this heavy expenditure provides no relief. With every passing year, the situation moves from bad to worse. The year 2002 has now witnessed the nature's fury at its peak. Experts feel that Bihar's floods are best example of worst water resource management in the country. Destruction uncontrolledThe rampaging rivers claimed lives of 360 people and 1,100 cattle by the end of August this year, in Bihar. The Water Resources Department of the state recorded 5.77 lakh cusecs of discharge in the river Gandak - exceeding the earlier highest value of 5.42 lakh cusecs, recorded in 1978. Other rivers including Kamla Balan, Bagmati, Kosi either breached or spilt over the embankments at more than 30 places inundating 204 blocks of 24 districts of the state affecting about 160 million people. The massive flood deluged 1,700 thousand hectares of land, destroying crop in 1,100 thousand hectares by the end of August.

Destruction uncontrolled
The rivers swell to over 1 metre above the danger mark at several places. The river Gandak breached the Saran embankment and flooded the Gopalganj district - the home district of Bihar's Chief Minister Mrs. Rabri Devi and Rashtriya Janta Dal supremo Mr. Laloo Yadav. The floodwaters entered the Gopalganj district headquarters. Over 6 lakh people were affected and ready crops worth US $ 2.4 million were destroyed in the district. A small town, Jogbani on eastern side of the state on the Indo-Nepal border, was completely cut off from rest of the country. The earthwork below the railway track in the Forbesganj-Sharsa section of the North Eastern Railway was washed off. Even a man on a motorcycle was swept away on a Bihar highway. The discharge of 638 thousand cusecs of water in 2002 was the highest in recent years, said Jagdanand Singh, the Water Resources Minister of the State. Kosi, the "Sorrow of Bihar," affected as much as 4 districts with an alarming peak discharge of 386 thousand cusecs. Discharge above 4 hundred thousand cusecs could have left the situation uncontrolled incase of Kosi. In undivided Bihar, in 1996, floods affected 31 districts claiming lives of 207 people and 66 cattle and destroyed 66,955 dwellings. After five years in bifurcated state during 2001, 8 million people in 5,477 villages of 22 districts were affected. Altogether, 203 lives were lost. But, the current year's offered record statistics, putting a question mark on the state and union government's determination to control flooding in over 50% of the districts in the state, which are declared flood-prone. Banking on the ProblemFive hundred odd villagers of 'Pupri' in 'Sitamarhi', a flood-prone district, want the embankment to be demolished. This embankment was constructed way back in early 60's. Reason - the embankment has adversely affected entire cropping patterns, setting back their economic status. Production of the commercial crop linseed was drastically reduced after the embankment had been constructed. The rice mills of this region have shut down. Every year, water gushes into their villages, leaving them in the lurch. "The embankments in north Bihar have not only affected the habitat and breeding grounds for wild animals and fishes but also the entire agricultural pattern and productivity in the region," says Dr. R.K. Sinha of Environmental Biology Laboratory of Patna University. "Prior to embankments the region was a good habitat for wild boar, black buck, rhinoceros, leopard, etc. But now these animals have become extinct in north Bihar," adds Dr. Sinha. The floodwater spread in the area increased soil fertility by layering fertile soil in the area. The idea to tame the river by raising dykes or earth works parallel to the river channel was conceived during 1896-97 at a conference in Calcutta. At that time too, doubts were raised about the efficacy of embankments. Debates on construction of embankments as a flood control tool had raised several doubts. In November 1937, the then Chief Minister of Bengal, Captain G.F. Hall, warned during the second flood conference held at Sinha Library, Patna, "If embankments continue to be built or even a status quo is maintained, I am sure, we are inviting catastrophe for the future generation." The length of embankments grew from 160 km in 1954 to 3,465 km in 1998 and at the same time the flood prone area went up from 2.5 million hectares in 1952 to 6.89 million hectare in 1994. Hall was bang on in his assessment, all those decades ago. "Such an enormous extension of embankments as the only flood control measure in the last 45-50 years has been proved to be suicidal," adds Dr. T. Prasad, Executive Chairman of Integrated Hydro Development Forum, Patna and Ex-Director of Centre for Water Resources of Patna University. Construction of embankments has resulted in blockades of natural drainage patterns affecting the entire ecology of the area. It has been proved to be a bane for agricultural crops, which remain submerged during monsoon. "Such water logging not only provides a suitable breeding ground to vectors of Malaria and Kala-azar (a deadly disease that has accounted for millions) but also renders the soil saline, hence reducing fertility," says Dr. Sinha. Nearly 224 thousand hectares are saline and the districts are "Kala-azar" hotspots in the country. Construction of embankments, have become a money spinning machine for corrupt politicians and engineers and an unlawful business for contractors and criminals in the state. In the last ten years over US $ 2 billion have been spent on flood control. With the yearly increase in expenditure for embankment construction and maintenance, the devastation also increases in accordance, rendering the public helpless.