 |
|
|
|
Bihar
Flood Man Made
By Rajesh
Chaubey
Sept. 14, 2008 |
 |
|
The Kosi
river is among the most volatile in the region.
It has shifted course by over 110 km in the past
100 years. In doing so, it has caused endless
devastation, earning for itself the sobriquet
"Sorrow of Bihar".
Before the monsoons the government should have
de-silted the river Kosi which brings heavy silt
and debris from it’s upper reaches in the
mountains. Apparently no such de-siltation was
done. The result was that when heavy rains were
reported in the region, in the first week of
August the river had menacingly begun lashing
the embankments at the Kusaha barrage at the
Indo-Nepal border. The Kosi Project Chief
Engineer sent a series of frantic warning
messages about the impending danger to project
Liaison Officer posted in Kathmandu, asking him
to initiate action. The project Liaison Officer
was on leave and the messages went unattended.
In such a critical office at such a critical
time there was no second in command to take
action.
The Kosi Project Chief Engineer also sent
messages to his superiors in Patna. But the
Irrigation Department in Patna sent a team of
its contractors to carry out repairs at the
barrage only after a week. The contractor
apparently ran into trouble with the locals at
the site and complained to the commercial
counselor of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
It was nature against lethargy, lack of
planning, lack of execution, lack of
sensitization, lack of human compassion and lack
of common sense. Kosi had given enough warning
and the inevitable happened.
For villagers of the inundated districts of
Bihar the warning to evacuate their home never
came. Officials assured there was no danger.
Then one morning a wall of water swept away all
they had. The floods forced more than three
million people from their homes, destroyed
almost 250,000 acres of farmland and killed
many. Bihar was pushed back by 50 years.
Who is responsible for such a disaster? Of
course, as always, the "Sorrow of Bihar" is
responsible. But is it the river Kosi? Time is
ripe we redefined the real "Sorrow of Bihar". It
is not the course shifting river Kosi but the
attitude of people who matter in Bihar of never
shifting course in time that is the real “sorrow
of Bihar”. Bihar’s flood and all the human
deaths and misery associated with it are the
result of criminal negligence on the part of a
handful of people. It was a man made disaster.
|
Comments: |
|
No comment so far. |
|
Discussion on this topic is now
closed. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
