"Kosi-----The Sorrow of Bihar"
This phrase was coined by a British tax-collector who found it difficult to collect his quota of revenue from this area.People living nearby Kosi do not consider it as a sorrow.They rather worship it.
The Kosi river basin in Bihar is facing its biggest ever flood disaster.The disaster is completely due to the neglect of the Government of India and the Government of Bihar.It is actually a man -made disaster which could have been avoided.
Govt of India has declared it as "National Calamity".More than two millions people are suffering.Government of India and Bihar are doing relief work as it is favoring people that too in hapzards and unplanned manner.
Most of Kosi water is flowing through the breach in the embankment that started with a small, few metres-wide breach on the eastern side, in the afternoon of August 18. This water is flowing through three of the 15 old streams of the Kosi river,namely Sursar, Mirchaiya and Belahi. This water is entering an area that does not have the capacity to drain that much of water.
What are the bottlenecks to be identified?
The longer the water remains in this area of flooding, more damaging would it be for the people and the state.
Similarly, it is important to ensure that the Kosi is able to drain out its water into the Ganga. But the Ganga flows this time of year and actually flowing above the danger mark at Sahibganj (Jharkhand) and Farakka (West Bengal), as per the Central Water Commission's (Government of India) flood forecasting site for almost two months now and is further rising.
The barrage on the Kosi river, just before it enters India was built under the 1954 Indo-Nepal Treaty. It is Government of India's responsibility for the proper operation and maintenance of the barrage and long embankment on both sides of the river . In the afternoon of August 18, when the embankment breached, the flow of water was lower than its expected capacity. The fact that the embankment breached at such a low flow compared to the design capacity speaks volumes about the abysmal state of maintenance of the embankment. The statement from the Indian embassy in Kathmandu that Nepal did not cooperate in ensuring timely maintenance is adding insult to the grave catastrophe.
The monsoon in this part of Bihar comes in early June. And the repair and maintenance of the embankment is supposed to be completed before the monsoon arrival.The Govt of India should have ensured that the maintenance is done before the required date, at least for the sake of the two million people of Bihar and Nepal. That was not done.
The pressure on the breached site on the embankment was clearly visible from August 5 onwards. Even at this stage,if the Government of India had used all its powers to ensure proper maintenance, the disaster could have been avoided. That too was not done.
It was apparent that Kosi is set to take the path which has least resistance and it was the old path.And destruction is there because kosi has taken its old path.But neither Govt. of India nor Nepal Govt woke up on 18th Aug.If the Govt. was woken then more planned evacuation was possible.Both the Govt has wasted time. In this cause Govt. of India is more responsible.
The option of big reservoir is also a false hope.
So what should be done to ensure that this calamity should not happen again.
Only one thing I see that both Govt. of India and Govt. of Bihar should be honest to the responsibility they have taken to protect their people from these kind of self generated pity. Officials should be fired for their irresponsible behavior.They are not there just to make statement .They have to do everything to ensure timely work.
I think Govt of India is more responsible for this "calamity" which they have declared "National Calamity".It was initially British who called it "Sorrow of Bihar" and now Indian govt justified it with their abysmal effort.
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