The government measures, including construction and repair of embankments, have thoroughly failed to serve their purpose
Come monsoon and the rivers in Bihar have once again breached the embankments, causing severe damages to life and property. The government machinery is yet again grappling with the relief and rescue operations.
Despite the state government spending crores for the disaster control and management where 28 of 38 districts have been declared as "flood prone", the floods affect lakhs of people every year.
The government measures, including construction and repair of embankments, have thoroughly failed to serve their purpose.
This year, the flood has claimed almost 100 lives and affected over 93 lakh people across 17 districts in the north of the state. The toll has prompted the environmentalists and water experts to raise concern over the government's repeated failure to resolve the matter.
Himalayan rivers are notorious for causing siltation between embankments. The process that badly affects the bed of the river can only be solved through dredging and treating the catchment, Patna-based hydrologist V K Singh said. "There is no proper silt management policy for Ganga or Kosi rivers, even though Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has frequently sought for a National Silt Management Policy," he added.
Most of the rivers flowing through Bihar originate in Nepal. However, the officials executing various projects with the state water resources department hardly collaborate or coordinate with the Nepal counterparts, experts said, adding that joint effort was required for better mitigation strategies.
The issue of decommissioning of Farakka barrage has also been vocally raised by Nitish, but that is not the sole reason behind Bihar's flood woes, said a senior geology professor based in Patna. "The siltation near Farakka causes backflow of the water, but decommissioning it is neither feasible nor looks possible," he added.
The attention of the Union government was recently drawn towards the devastation by floods in Bihar, to which Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan said long-term solution to the problem of flood in Bihar lies in construction of multipurpose projects with flood cushion in the upper reaches of the rivers.
"India and Nepal have set up a Joint Project Office to investigate and prepare a DPR of Sapta Kosi High Dam project and Sun Kosi Storage cum Diversion Scheme. The DPR of the Indo-Nepal Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project on river Sarda has also been prepared," the minister said.
Meanwhile, almost 4,000 villages are inundated and the state government has set up over 1,000 relief camps for the people affected. Besides, provisions of food, accommodation, doctors and paramedics have been deployed to the camps.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Flood")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}