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BIHAR
IN SORROWS ONCE AGAIN - A Full Report on Bihar Floods |
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| Geography
of the Area |
The northeastern
part of the Indian state, ie Koshi, Munger, Darbhanga and
Tirhut Commissionaries are partially situated at the foothills
of the Himalyan ranges at the international border between
India and Nepal. The rain catchment area is very large in
the hills. Roughly around 64% of the rain catchment area falls
in Nepal region and the rest 36% in the Indian border. It
would not be an exaggeration if we say that the whole region
is covered with hundreds of rivers, big and small. Quite a
few of them remain even dry during the off-season but in rainy
season they swell up as they are fed by the large rain catchment
area. As water gushes down the hills it gains momentum and
the forceful currents sweep away anything that falls on their
way. Some of the major rivers in the area are Koshi, Ganges,
Mahananda, Gandak, Kamala, Bagmati, Kamala Balan, Aghwara
group of rivers, Burhi Gandak, Bhutahi Balan, Nun, Parman
and a host of other small tributary rivers. Of these the Koshi
is the most dangerous one.
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| Koshi
the Sorrow of Bihar |
Koshi
flows down from the hills in Nepal in to the Indian territory
where it merges with the river Ganges. History has shown that
it is totally unpredictable concerning its course. The Kosi
is a tributary of the Ganges and travels through the upper
mountainous regions in Nepal before meeting the plains of
Bihar and merging with the Ganges several hundred km downstream.
Given the crystalline nature of the rock and its young morphology,
it carries large quantities of silt and other matter, which
is not alluvial and infertile. As it flows down the hills
it carries lots of silt with it.
This silt is deposited in the plains of Bihar. The trouble
is compounded by the steep gradient from which the river emerges
and enters the Bihar plains. Its large deposits of silt and
gradient from which the river emerges forces the river to
meander along unpredictable paths thus earning for itself
the name of being the ‘River of Sorrow’ comparable
to the Huang Ho, also known as Yellow River, of China.
The first attempt to tame the Kosi began in
1956, after the devastating floods of 1954. In the techno
economic survey prepared at that time clearly the optimum
solution was the construction of a 239-metre dam at Barakshetra,
about 50 km within Nepal, to be backed by a barrage down
stream. For several reasons including cost, a deflection
of focus due to the Bhakra Nangal project, the complexities
in the construction of multiple structures resulted in shelving
this optimum option. It was considered prudent to settle
during the interim with merely a barrage at Hanuman Nagar
(Birpur).
Thus the first credible attempt to tame the
river began in 1956 with an eastern and western embankment
of 105 and 106 km, respectively, of which about 32 km of
the eastern embankment is located in Nepal. The embankments
were completed in 1959.
The barrage itself at Birpur to regulate water flow was
completed in 1964. The Indo-Nepalese agreement signed between
the two countries, which facilitated this project, brought
benefits to both India and Nepal. The Nepalese side however
continued to question the adequacy of benefits received
from the project Nepal had along wanted a barrage system
upstream of the present, which in their perception would
have yielded more optimum returns.
It was all along known that the interim solution which was
to last at best 25 years needed to be replaced by more permanent
arrangements. The barrage at Hanuman Nagar has lasted three
times more than its life. Years rolled by and suddenly we
have been overtaken by the current events.
Since 1948 its course has moved 30 KM westward. Year after
year new areas are swallowed by this river. Attempts have
been made to control this river by constructing bundhs (dyke)
at both sides of the river. Every year the dyke breaks at
one place or the other due to the water pressure at different
places causing floods in the area.
Just like the people of New Orleans, who felt
secure because the levees were there, the people of Madhepura,
Araria and Supaul districts had faith in the embankments
built on both sides of the Kosi to keep the waters from
flooding the adjacent plains. But they had not reckoned
with the enormous pent-up force unleashed by 51 billion
cubic metres of water. Finally, it broke through the embankment
just after the barrage at Bhimnagar — and swept into
its old course.
The Kosi is called the Sorrow of Bihar because among all
the fast-flowing rivers that collect water in Nepal and
speed down the mountains into the plains of Bihar, it is
the most dangerous. It carries over 81 million tons of silt
every year in its roiling waters. And, it is a young river,
not yet having matured enough to settle on a course. As
it enters the northern plains the incline drops off, and
the water starts slowing down. Over the years silt gets
deposited giving Kosi its braided shape — it has several
channels that diverge and then again merge, like a braid,
as the water tries to find new ways to go further. As it
shifts it leads a deposit of sand, which renders the land
barren.
Seen from a satellite, the area looks like a conical fan.
Created by hundreds of years of shifting, it is the largest
such cone in the world, covering an area of over 15,000
square km. The tip is near Chatra on the Nepal border. The
cone is made up of various courses of Kosi and the land
in between, which get submerged during floods. |
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| Koshi
Commissionary the Indian administrative unit |
| The whole
of Koshi Commissionary is comprised of three (3) districts
namely Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura. These districts are
further divided into eight (8) Sub Divisions and a total of
40 administrative Blocks. Of these three districts only Supaul
and its neighboring district Araria of Purnia Commissionary
fall at the border of India and Nepal and the rest two ie
Saharsa and Madhepura districts are situated at the southern
end of Supaul district. For decades major parts of Saharsa,
Madhepura and Supaul districts have been considered safe zones
with respect to the floods. People in the now affected area
reported that in this area there is no living person who has
witnessed floods Usually some parts of Saharsa district adjacent
to Khagaria are affected by the floods. |
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| SOME
RELEVANT CONSOLIDATED DATA REGARDING THE ABOVE MENTIONED DISTRICTS
AT A GLANCE |
| District |
No.of Blocks |
Demographic
Details |
Agr.Labour |
| Total Population |
Male |
Female |
Rural |
Urban |
| Supaul |
14 |
1732578 |
902207 |
830371 |
1644370 |
88208 |
526267 |
| Madhepura |
15 |
1526646 |
797180 |
729466 |
1458679 |
67967 |
498367 |
| Saharsa |
11 |
1508182 |
789432 |
718750 |
1383015 |
125167 |
310347 |
| Araria |
11 |
2158608 |
1128105 |
1030503 |
2026257 |
132351 |
411566 |
| Total |
51 |
6926014 |
3616924 |
3309090 |
6512321 |
413693 |
1746547 |
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| District |
M/F Ratio |
% Rural Population |
% Urban Population |
% S.C. Population |
% S.T. Population |
| Supaul |
920 |
94.90 |
5.10 |
14.80 |
0.30 |
| Madhepura |
915 |
95.547 |
4.453 |
17.06 |
0.61 |
| Saharsa |
910 |
91.70 |
8.30 |
16.09 |
0.31 |
| Araria |
913 |
93.87 |
6.13 |
13.60 |
1.36 |
| Average of the Area |
914.5 |
94.004 |
5.996 |
15.387 |
0.645 |
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| All
the above data is based on the 2001 Census Report of the government
of India, (without any addition to the figures) Provisional
Population |
| A
short socio economic analysis of the above data |
The data
sheet clearly shows that the whole of this area is predominantly
Rural. Further it is highly caste-based society in which the
Backward and High Caste people call the shots as they hold
the socio-economic and political powers in their hands.
There is hardly an industry worth mentioning. Thus the pressure
on land is very high. The average population growth rate being
very high (36.8%), the pressure on land has been continuously
increasing. Moreover, land in the area is in the hands of
the high and middle castes and rich people depriving the dalits
(S.Cs.) and tribals (S.Ts.) any access to land, it being the
most important factor of production in the area. Thus in the
recent past migration to other states and cities has increased
manifold.
Low income reflects itself in very low literacy rate (36.8%),
and poor health and sanitation conditions of the people in
the area when compared with the corresponding data from the
State and country.
Bihar State’s total literacy rate, male literacy rate
and female literacy rate being 47.53, 60.32 and 33.57 respectively.
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| Table
of literacy rate district wise |
| District |
Total
Literacy Rate % |
Male
Literacy Rate %
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Female
Literacy Rate % |
| Supaul |
37.28 |
52.42 |
20.81 |
| Madhepura |
36.07 |
48.80 |
22.21 |
| Saharsa |
39.08 |
51.56 |
25.27 |
| Araria |
35.01 |
46.38 |
22.37 |
| Average |
36.08 |
49.815 |
22.665 |
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| THE
UNHEARD TRAGEDY |
| 17th August
2008 |
| 1 |
Breach in eastern Kosi afflux bund at
Kushaha in neighbouring Nepal.
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For the first time the breach was reported on 18th
of august, 2008. The length of the breach was roughly
around 60 meters and within 24 hours it widened to one
kilometer. By night water had gushed in Birpur town
of Supaul district. It is reported that by now the breach
has widened upto 2 kilometers. With this breach the
Koshi River had already taken a new route altogether.
Areas considered safe so far were flooded. The violent
Koshi kept swallowing newer areas as it proceeded. Thus
the areas normally affected by Koshi are safe by and
large, of course at the cost of the newer areas. Virtually
there is a river now where there was no river.
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With this breach Koshi has shifted over 120km eastwards,
going back to a course it had abandoned more than 300
years ago.
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In the process it has rendered useless more than 300km
of embankments that had been built to control its ever-angry
waters. The effect has been enormous, inundating numerous
towns and villages that had not seen such floods for
decades.
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It is a Katrina moment in Bihar — nobody expected
Hurricane Katrina to breach the levees protecting New
Orleans, that too in 53 places, flooding 80% of the
city and leaving a trail of never-seen-before.
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In an attempt to control the river all 56 gates containing
its water were opened to decrease the pressure but so
far it has proved to be a futile exercise.
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Heavy rains in the hills and plains have made the
situation worse.
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The situation was bad enough when 1.5 million cusec
water was released. Yesterday’s report says that
an addition of 2.5 million cusec water is further released.
We wonder what would happen in October as according
to the past records the discharge of water could go
up to 9 million cusecs.
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By the time this report is filed already 6 districts
of the state of Bihar are worst affected by the floods
this year.
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The most intense part of the rainy season is yet to
come in October.
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| 11 |
The present crisis that seven districts of the region
are facing is no exception as reports of criminals trying
to extract the maximum they can from people leaving
the disaster zone have been coming in.
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On 27th August the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Manmohan
Singh declares the floods in Bihar a National Calamity,
which clearly shows its intensity.
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| A
Consolidated damage report |
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to reports the following districts are worst affected by the
floods this year:- |
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Districts inundated – Supaul, Saharasa, Araria, Madhepura,
Purnia, and Katihar
• Population affected – Press reports 2.5 million
marooned in 441 affected villages, but MPA estimate tells
that roughly around 4 million people are affected by the
floods this year.
Helpless villagers have grabbed boats, planks or have taken
refuge on rooftops to save themselves from floods.
Diseases like diarrhea were reported from many government-run
camps in the state.
"The camps are not organized yet and we are receiving
reports of diseases," said Mukesh Puri of the UNICEF.
• Water..Water everywhere not a drop to drink :
With floodwaters drowning wells and hand pumps in the area,
drinking water has become scarce
• Land under water – Surging waters have swamped
100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of farmland, destroying
wheat and paddy crops worth millions of rupees, officials
said.
• Rail link affected – Saharsa – Banmankhi
and Saharsa – Madhepura; Train movement during night
in Saharsa andMadhepura districts stopped as precautionary
measure; Saharsa – Purnia as the railway bridge 47
is broken.
• Road link affected – Purnia – Saharsa
as NH 107 submerged; Buses on the Saharsa –Banmankhi
and Madhepura–Singheshwar route suspended as flood
water overtops roads; Bargama – Araria and forbesganj
– Bargama road link snapped
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| The
latest Official Data on Floods 2008 |
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| Impact
of flood in Supaul District |
It has
been reported that approximately 1 million people are presently
fighting for their survival only in Supaul district, as Basantpur,
Pratapganj, Chaatapur and parts of Tribeniganj and Raghopur
blocks are totally inundated with huge number of people trapped
between the surging water.
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| Profile
of the affected areas in Supaul district: |
| Block |
Panchayat |
village |
Population |
| Chaatapur |
23 |
63 |
263,117 |
| Vasantpur |
10 |
63 |
178,880 |
| Raghopur |
6 |
19 |
86,913 |
| Pratapganj |
9 |
14 |
72,210 |
| Tribeniganj |
21 |
51 |
292,670 |
| TOTAL |
69 |
210 |
893,790 |
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To make
matter worse, all infrastructure facilities have been destroyed.
For small and marginal farmers, their present and future is
under dark. Standing crops like paddy, madua, patua or parsan
have been completely destroyed. Huge population of livestock
has also been affected. Not only the immediate future is scary.
Locals are aware that the water inundating their land is not
going to recede. If, due to the breach of the embankment,
the river Kosi changed its course, those lands are lost.
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The present
scenario in Supaul comes across as extremely grim. There
are high chances of the situation deteriorating at a
fast pace. Most of the areas in the affected blocks
are totally cut off from the mainland. People have been
stranded since the time the river started flowing in
that direction. Due to lack of facilities like big motorized
boats, helicopters, etc. evacuation has not been carried
out in the Indian area. People are taking refuge either
on rooftops or on trees since the floods occurred and
these temporary arrangements have also proven to be
fatal. There are reports of houses collapsing under
the pressure of human population that has resulted in
deaths by huge numbers. Small boats have also capsized
killing few hundreds. These deaths have not been acknowledged
by the district administration, as the government figures
on human loss provided in the daily report prepared
by the Disaster Management Department on 24th August
2008 clearly states that there has not been a single
human or livestock death in the district, which obviously
is far from representing the reality.
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Lack of preparedness,
emergency supporting facilities (for instance motorized
boats, life jackets, local swimmers who have the experience
of wading through rivers in spate), and accessible conditions,
made it difficult for the local administration to respond
to the emergency situation in its first week. While
this report is being closed, it has been almost 9 days
since the disaster struck. Since then, the relief activity
that took place (mainly few small and medium boats and
dropping of food packets) covered small areas and left
majority of the population unattended. The present situation
is such that the marooned population has no option than
to depend on external rescue operations for survival.
In its absence no other intervention would be meaningful.
Lack of preparedness, emergency supporting facilities
(for instance motorized boats, life jackets, local swimmers
who have the experience of wading through rivers in
spate), and accessible conditions, made it difficult
for the local administration to respond to the emergency
situation in its first week. While this report is being
closed, it has been almost 9 days since the disaster
struck. Since then, the relief activity that took place
(mainly few small and medium boats and dropping of food
packets) covered small areas and left majority of the
population unattended. The present situation is such
that the marooned population has no option than to depend
on external rescue operations for survival. In its absence
no other intervention would be meaningful.
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The notion
of being located in a flood secure zone has been highly detrimental
for the local population. Floods were not considered as a
possibility; hence no effort of preparedness at any level
was ever done both by people and by the local administration.
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| Impact
of flood in Madhepura District |
About 1.4 million
persons are affected in Madhepura alone. Out of which
the government with the support of the army is in the
process of evacuating nearly 1.2 million persons from
these villages as the water is rising rapidly inundating
most villages. As of now we have reported death of 75
persons including policemen engaged rescue operation.
The government has deployed about 100 boats and deployed
about 500 Bihar military police for the evacuation.
Additionally army is also deployed and the services
of helicopters are pitched in to airdrop relief materials
to inaccessible villages.
We had made a visit to the office of the district magistrate
and enquired about the relief operations. The officials
do not have any clear plan for relief as huge crowd
is pouring into the city every minute. They have opened
a few relief camps (37 as per the report), site visit
to one such camp at TP college highlighted the plight
of the people as the entire area is water logged and
the water level steadily increasing. Since the city
cannot hold the population influx they are requesting
NGOs to assist in the relocation of the affected people
to neighboring districts.
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| Impact
of flood in Saharsa District |
The situation
at Saharsa is deteriorating each day with the surging floodwaters
mounted pressure on the main road link. The water level in
Sour bazaar, Patraghat, Simri, Bhaktiarpur and Sonbarsa blocks
rose on Thursday overtopping roads at several places. People
taking shelter on the road have fled to safer places. It is
feared that gushing waters may spill over to Saharsa town
and its adjoining villages within the next 24 hours.
The following blocks have been affected
1. Salakuwa
2. Simri Bhaktiarpur
3. Bama Itahari
4. Pathar Ghat
5. Son Varsha Raj
6. Sour bazaar
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| Impact
of flood in Kathihar & Purnia Districts |
The turbulent
Kosi River, which has the eastern afflux bund at Kausaha is
now threatening to swallow new swathes of land in Katihar
and parts of Purunia districts. The government has sounded
a red alert in Kursela, Barari, Sameli and Amdabad blocks
in Kathihar district.
With the breach widening towards the Bheemnagar barrage, the
pressure at the barrage has dwindled and the water is flowing
through the breached embankment on its newly charted course,
threatening to engulf more areas down stream.
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| Need
of the hour |
We strongly
believe that the main challenge at present is to rescue
all the trapped victims from the flooded areas and to
provide food and other immediate facilities to the rescued
people. With heavy rain lashing the affected areas the
plight of the displaced population is becoming rather
difficult to cope.
Going by the present scenario, it is evident that the
following interventions are required on a war footing
in terms of priority
Big motorized boats for rescue and for relief operations
- Assistance in terms of
• Temporary Shelter
• Food and non-food items
• System for safe drinking water
• Sanitation facilities
• Medical support with drug supply
We fear and the experts suggest that the relief
operations will continue for a long period it could
be for 3-6 months.
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| Madhepura
District |
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| Notes
: This report is acknowledges data collected from various
sources such as news papers, various news channels, web portals,
etc. |
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