I still remember those days..text books of Govt. schools. We just used to memorize without understanding. In one of the books there was an interesting adjective about 2 rivers. The adjective was 'Sorrow'.
1. Huang Ho is 'sorrow' of China.
2. Kosi is 'sorrow' of Bihar.
Last 15 years, I never heard anything about floods in Huang Ho. All you hear about China are the big dams they have built.
Can we say same thing about Kosi and Bihar??
Flood is nothing new to Bihar. Growing up in Bihar, I am as familiar and accustomed to floods as Eskimos are to ice. And 2008 is not the only year Bihar is flooded. It is an yearly ritual.
Only difference is this time scale is bigger ...way bigger than any flood in recent history. Also it is not going to be temporary either.
And the Sorrow is back in the news though I hate accusing the river for our sorrow.
-Sorrow is apathy of rulers both in state and in Delhi towards the warning signs.
-Sorrow is sheer negligence by Water resource Mgmt dept of Bihar for not raising the red flag and not warning the affected people.
This was waiting to happen. But who cares?? 2 helicopters will drop few thousand packets for million of hungry people.
That will also happen only if the choppers are free from ferrying the VVIPs.
There will be some grant from center, some bandhs will be organized by opposition parties and we will move on. To wait for next year flood. (Just to remind the readers - lot of Bureaucrats and Politicians depend on this relief. Remember award winning convicted District Magistrate of Patna!!)
I have seen it for quarter of century and there is no end in sight.
So when do you think Kosi signalled us about its mood?
Well..not one year, not 2 years..at least 4years back, the expert on Kosi study warned about this.
Please see Dr. AB Thapa's article published in 2004.
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishweekly/spotlight/2004/jun/jun04/opinion.htm
And here is the exact words from that article:
"The detention basin upstream of the Kosi barrage near Hanumannagar is going to be very soon full. After that the embankments would be ineffective to prevent the lateral shifting of the Kosi. It is predicted that the Kosi would again take its 1732 course. The farthest position of the new course of the Kosi is expected to be about 120 km away from its present course. The swing of the Kosi river to the east could be sudden and almost unexpected because nobody yet exactly knows when it is going to happen. "
Sounds familiar to the current situation?
To continue from the same article
" It does not need to be further explained that such shifting of the Kosi to the east would be a biggest disaster for the whole region. Generally, the flood damages are temporary in nature but the Kosi flood damages would be widespread and also permanent in nature. Mr. Shilling Feld an expert on Kosi, has warned a longtime ago that the eastward movement of the Kosi will be in one big swing accompanied with great loss of life and property."
And what have we done about this??
It is time for all of us to introspect. To fix responsibility and take responsibility.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It just shows the apathy, indifference and gross neglect over the years. Manmohan, Lalu or Nitish would already have chalked out plans to play politics over 2 million dead people. Flood's not just an yearly phenomenon, it's a business for scores of people with margins running close to 100%. Nothing would change even if all the rivers of the country change their courses and start flowing into Bihar.
Post a Comment