The flooding of Kosi river in Bihar last year had occurred due to absence of dams in Nepal. The devastation caused ran into thousands of crores of rupees.
The Parliamentary panel on water resources has noted that floods in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were primarily due to overflowing rivers from Nepal and asked the government to convince Kathmandu through diplomatic channels for construction of dams in that country.
Noting that floods in these two states were recurring in nature and primarily due to rivers flowing from Nepal, the Parliamentary Standing Committee has emphasised on the need for concerted efforts to pursue with Nepal for construction of dams in the neighbouring country to control the menace.
"These floods can be managed only by constructing dams/reservoirs on the rivers inside Nepal and not in the Indian territory due to topographical reasons," the Committee, headed by Congress MP Beni Prasad, observed.
The flooding of Kosi river in Bihar last year had occurred due to absence of dams in Nepal. The devastation caused ran into thousands of crores of rupees.
The Committee's first report on Demands for Grants (2009-10) of the water resources ministry further states that the government is expected to make all out and concerted efforts to pursue with Nepal on the issue.
This should be done "through diplomatic channels and also at the highest level in the government so that government of Nepal in a spirit of mutual benefit and long term gain agree to construction of dams", the report states. The Committee also noted that government had declared 14 projects as "national projects" and the irrigation benefits from these projects is estimated to be about 21 lakh hectare, apart from additional benefits and availability of drinking water.
Suggesting that the ministry should streamline the process of inclusion of projects of state governments in the list of national projects, the Committee has said the ministry should also encourage states about scheme of national projects so that they came forward with more such proposals.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh had announced on June 30, 2008, a National Action Plan which envisages eight National Missions including National Water Mission (NWM).
NWM's objectives are conservation of water, minimising wastage and ensuring equal distribution across and within states. The Committee has said the government should take note of suggestions of climatologists and other experts in view of "the looming threat of climate change and grave scarcity of water in future".
Noting the shortfall in area under irrigation due to "tardy land acquisition by states and delay in clearance of project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests", the Parliamentary Committee expressed concern over lack of proper communication and co-ordination between different departments and implementing agencies.
It has also suggested ways of rationalising ground water for various uses to check decline of the ground water table.
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