No strangers to the floods: India needs to build resilience in communities through long-term solutions

As news reports pour in, over 1.26 crore people in 20 districts of Bihar are affected by the floods. The surging floodwaters have already killed 253 people. In Assam, 33.45 lakh people across 25 districts are affected by the floods and the death toll has crossed 148. West Bengal is also facing floods affecting over 52 lakh people with 55 already dead.

These states of India are no strangers to floods. Since time immemorial, rivers from the Himalayas are carrying large volumes of water and spreading it far and wide in the floodplains of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, etc. Along with the waters, these rivers carry large amounts of sediment that is deposited in the floodplains making them one of the most fertile lands in the country. This floodwater (July to September) and sediment deposition is the most natural and essential role of the Himalayan rivers, which sustains lives and livelihoods in the floodplains.

These basic facts about the Himalayan rivers and their ecosystems are least understood by the authorities, who, for the last several decades, are pushing ‘engineering solutions’ to the floods in floodplains. Recently, the government of Assam proposed construction of a 5,000 km embankment-cum-expressway (costing Rs 40,000 crore) along the Brahmaputra’s course. The proposal has already been forwarded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has also announced a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore to find a “permanent solution to floods in Assam”.

However, before moving any further, it is imperative to conduct a comprehensive socio-economic-health impact assessment of the heavily embanked rivers of Bihar. Bihar is India’s most flood-prone state. Of the state’s total geographical area, 73 per cent, primarily in North Bihar, is flood-prone. At the national level, 17.2 per cent of the flood-prone area of the entire country is in Bihar. The state has embanked a majority of its perennial rivers and boasts of 3,629 km long embankments.

Embankments are artificial earthen walls constructed along both the banks of a river to keep settlements ‘protected’ from the rising river. In the mid-1950s, the Indian government decided to build embankments to control floods in North Bihar. In 1954, Bihar had 160 km long embankments with a flood-prone area of 2.5 million hectares (mha). In 1987, the state had completed 3,321 km of embankments, but the flood-prone area increased to 6.461 mha. As per the latest figure, Bihar now has 3,629 km long embankments with a flood-prone area of 6.88 mha.

Embankments divide people into haves (living outside the embankment) and have-nots (caught between the river and the embankment) and provide a false sense of security. Between 1987 and 2011, embankments were breached more than 371 times inundating large parts of Bihar. This year also several embankments have been breached in the state causing massive floods. Worse, millions of people still live inside the embankments (over 1.2 million inside Kosi’s embankments alone) with water levels up to seven feet.

Dinesh K Mishra, an expert on Bihar floods, claims that local communities are living in the floodplains for the past many centuries and have their own systems, based on traditional wisdom and experiences, that help them live with the floods. Building resilience of these communities can help minimise damage due to floods.

Firstly, we need better designed elevated flood-resistant houses for communities living in flood-prone areas. Local people can be trained to construct such houses that will also provide livelihood.

Rabi (winter) used to be the main crop of farmers in the flood plains of Bihar. However, post the construction of embankments, the government has been pushing kharif (monsoon) crops, which are regularly lost due to the floods. There is a need to lay additional stress on rabi crops and garma dhan (a type of paddy grown in Bihar) sown in November and harvested in the summer.

Megh Pyne Abhiyan (MPA), a non-profit working in flood-prone districts of North Bihar, is training local communities to build Jal Kothis using bamboo, sand, cement, etc. These structures cost a mere Rs 868 per unit, and harvest rainwater and provide safe drinking water during the floods. MPA has also constructed unique Phaydemand Shauchalayas (ecosan toilets) in flood-prone areas of North Bihar, which are accessible even during the floods.

These local innovations are community-driven and help build resilience in people living in flood-prone areas. We need more such innovations, which are the only long-term solution to the riverine floods.

Nidhi Jamwal is an independent environment journalist based in Mumbai. Views expressed are personal.