BIHAR'S FLOOD FURY; END OF KOSI CIVILIZATION

iGovernment » Governance Bihar's flood of fury: End of Kosi civilisation?

The quantum of the severity of this flood of fury is yet to completely seep in. Most of the areas under Kosi's new, course may now never resurface

Published on 8/29/2008 7:52:54 PM

By Om Prakash Yadav

Over one lakh people in 102 relief camps, about 2.5 lakh houses destroyed, crops in 1.06 lakh hectare wiped off, and while the government claims it has so far evacuated nearly three lakh people, the total number of population affected has swelled to 1.2 crore.

This is day thirteen of the catastrophe that hit Bihar on August 18. And while relief measures and funds have started flowing in, it seems the quantum of the severity of this flood of fury is yet to completely seep in, even though the overflowing Kosi—the sorrow of Bihar—has been sinking most of the human habitat that has come on the way of its new, changed course.

A close look at the history of this North Bihar river, and one realises that the worst is yet not over.

According to experts and the data of rainfall and water discharged from the Bhimnagar Kosi barrage every year, an additional 2.1 lakh cusecs of water is likely to flood in from Nepal between September and October.

And what does that mean? Experts suggest that it is just the beginning of the problem, for one, the changed course of the river has swallowed millions of hectares of land and which are hardly going to resurface even after the water recedes. 

Two, these inundated areas are technically in the river bed, thereby completely uprooting those living in these areas—not to talk about the loss of agriculture land, houses, livestock, ponds, wells and above all their dreams.

Three, the devastation of this magnitude is unheard in modern civilisation, with the entire Kosi civilisation on the verge of eclipse.

The genesis of disaster

Like many other rivers of North Bihar, Kosi gathers water from Himalayas in Nepal. However, it is a trans-boundary river and flows between Nepal and India.

Kosi is also one of the largest tributaries of Ganga and after flowing through nearly 70,000 sq kilometres confluences into Ganga near Kursaila in Katihar district of Bihar.

In Nepal, this river lies to the west of Himalayan peak, the Kanchanjangha and has seven major tributaries namely Sun Kosi, Tama Kosi, Dhudh Kosi, Indravati, Likhu, Arun and Tamar. That is why it is known as 'Sapta Kosi' in Nepal.

This river has earned notoriety since time immemorial due to its unruly, turbulent and unpredictable behaviour.

On an average, it carries 70-80 million tons of silt every year and it is perhaps due to this feature, it tends to change its course after a definite period of time. This is also one of the most important differences between Himalayan rivers and rivers of Europe or America.

Many experts are therefore, of the opinion that viability of high dams on any Himalayan river is very bleak, because the heavy siltation makes barrages useless after a period of time.

Kosi has an average discharge of 55,000 cusecs of water that increases by as much as twenty times during the monsoon or flood season, thereby assuming dangerous proportions.

The speed and velocity of the river's flow is also very high, causing devastation that is most often unthinkable. As the river is relatively new, experts suggest that it has not matured enough to settle a definite course.

Mapping the old course

The first attempt to map the meandering of this swift, fast and turbulent river was made by British surveyor C C English way back 1779.

According to district gazetteer of Saharsa, he tracked the course of Kosi since 1731 and the maps prepared by him suggest that the 18th century Kosi that flowed near Purnea moved westwards in the ensuing 300 years—shifting its course from from Purnea to Supaul.

On the basis of this inference, it is being said that the Kosi has come back to its 18th century course. According experts, the river that had shifted 120 kilometres from east to west in over 250 years has suddenly again reversed its course.

Kosi, Floods and Devastation

Kosi and floods in Bihar have inseparable history, with the river being responsible for some of the most devastating floods caused in the state—from the one in 1954 to those in 1963, 1971, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1995 and the present flood in 2008.

According to the records available with Water Resources Department (WRD), overall 850,000 cusecs of water was discharged from the river during the 1954 flood. It was under these unprecedented circumstances that the Government of India (GoI) decided to look for a long lasting solution to the problem.

The initiative to tame this mighty and uproarious river saw India sign the historic 'Kosi Agreement' with Nepal on April 25, 1954. While Gulzari Lal Nanda signed the agreement on behalf of the GOI, Nepal was represented by Bir Shumeshwar.

The agreement envisaged setting up of a barrage by GOI. The barrage was to be located about eight miles upstream of Hanuman Nagar town; the barrage was built at Bhimnagar and it took over seven years (1956-63) to complete the work.

The terms and conditions of the agreement, however, stipulated that India would be responsible for any the repair and maintenance of the barrage. The Government of Nepal also handed over the project area land was on lease for 193 years.

Other than the barrage, a 39 Kilometre long embankment from barrage site to Chatra in Nepal was also built to 'jacket' and tame the turbulence of this river. The 'jacketing' directed the flow of the river to the barrage and swift and fast Kosi was brought to control to a great extent.

Spurs—a diagonal structure to check the speed of current and protect embankment—were also constructed along the eastward embankment to prevent the erosion or breach in embankment.

The August 18 Breach

While the jacketing of this river upstream barrage did prove successful in guiding and controlling the direction of the flow over the last 45 years, it was also moving towards becoming disastrous because of heavy siltation.

As this river carries heavy silt with it, in due course of time the bed of the river rose above the field itself and this, in fact, has been the typical reason of flood every year in this area.

Unfortunately enough, while all previous floods in Kosi always happened due to breach in embankments downstream the barrage, the present flood has been caused due to breach in the embankment near Kusaha which is located upstream the barrage.

According to reports available with sections of media, the signs of breach in this eastward upstream embankment were perceptible in the very first week of August itself. 

The current started eroding and damaging the embankment between 12.10 and 12.90 kilometres. The officials of WRD say that the law and order situation in Nepal has under gone a change and they were not getting required amount of co-operation from the Nepalese authorities.

They justified their alleged inaction by saying that when the team of engineers visited the site at Kusaha, they were not allowed to work and were forced to flee from the site.

Gradually, the spurs near Kusaha also got damaged and finally breached on August 18, 2008 at 12.80 kilometre point. This site was about 12 kilometres away from the barrage, therefore within few hours waters flowed into the Indian territory.

With the river flowing in full swing, the surging water took no time in widening the breach by up to two kilometres the same day. With the water gushing out through the breach, the situation had worsened and within 24 hours the entire Kosi barrage was almost empty.

Although engineers tried to lessen the damage and control the discharge of water through the breach by opening 54 out of 56 sluice gates of the barrage, the current had by that time adopted a different course, making the attempt to prevent the disaster futile.

The roaring Kosi took eastward course from here and entered into Bihar through Birpur. Within hours, the water inundated Birpur, Belwa Bazar (native village of former Chief Minister Dr Jagarnath Mishra), Chatarpur, Pratapganj, Raghopur and Triveniganj of Supaul district.

The surging water moved further east southwards and engulfed areas like Farbisganj and Narpatganj of Araria district. The direction of the flow was such, that its entry into Purnea district was easily forecasted. This was exactly the route that Kosi had been flowing through in the 18th century.

As the river found no natural course in east-south downward direction, it got divided into many branches and entered into different areas inundating and marooning them.

Within a week, the water inundated Narpatganj, Ghurna, Bela, Basmatia and Bhargama Blocks of Araria District, Pratapganj, Udhampur, Raghopur, Triveniganj and Chatarpur of Supaul district. Some areas of Kisanganj district were also affected.

District like Madhepura also came in the way of this river. Firstly Kumarkhand, Udakisanganj, Bihariganj, Alamnagar, Murliganj, Purni, Gwalpara, Singheshwarsthan and Sankerpur blocks of Madhepura got badly affected and people got trapped in the flood.

On August 27, flood water entered the Madhepura town itself.

Situation in these areas are fast deteriorating and condition is becoming precarious. While official figure indicates nearly 50 causalities so far, unconfirmed sources suggest that the number of deaths would be much more than what anybody would guess.

In Purnea district, blocks like Bikothi, Banmankhi, Rupauli, Dhamdaha and Amaur are either partially or totally affected by this catastrophe.

While moving east west downward direction, areas like Sonbarsha, Sourbazar, Pataghat, Banganwan and Simribakhtiarpur of Saharsha district also witnessed the fury of flood. People have lost lives, properties, homes and perhaps everything.

Kosi confluences into Ganga near Kursaila in Katihar district, therefore red alert have also been sounded to evacuate areas like Kursaila, Barari and Korha. Sources suggest that water can enter these any moment now and cause further destruction.

Magnitude of the problem

With over 20 blocks of six districts in the state badly in the grip of the ferocious flowing Kosi water, the magnitude of problem is not difficult to estimate. About 15 lakh people are trapped in different places, and there is an urgent need to evacuate them, or else the state might lose them forever.

Even if all such persons are rescued, huge numbers of relief camps are required to be set up. A rough calculation of the displaced based on the number of blocks and villages affected suggest that the state government would need to chalk out plans for rehabilitating over 1.2 crore affected population.

Rescuing the marooned population, providing relief and arranging rehabilitation is a herculean job, because almost entire infrastructure has been destroyed. Worse, the state government has neither the manpower nor the resources to meet this unprecedented situation.

The immediate question, however, is to find out enough space to set up relief camps and make arrangements for the basic needs, including adequate food, for supporting over 15 lakh people.

Carrying the entire population and shifting them to distant and safer places has never been an easy task, not to talk about running the relief camps on such a large scale and for a long time; experts in WRD suggest that the situation is likely to remain unaltered till October.

And while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has declared it as a national calamity and aids have been flowing in—from Rs 1,000-crore package central government assistance to free rail services and relief material being supplied by the Indian Railways and financial assistance announced by the governments of Maharashtra, Delhi, the United State, Britain and Unicef—the distribution of the relief on such large scale is a huge challenge in itself.

The changed course of the river has swallowed millions of hectares of land that are hardly going to resurface even after the water recedes, posing a massive challenge of shifting and rehabilitating a huge population.

It is not hard to guess the cost of this rehabilitation programme, both in terms of money and time. And while experts say that it would be possible to bring back Kosi to its original course, what if they fail to reverse the situation?

While the failure to do so will mean that there would be sand dunes everywhere in the old course, it also means that the state and its people will permanently lose their properties, fertile lands, infrastructure, and all.

This also means that unless the situation is handled with precision care of a surgeon doing an open heart surgery, Bihar will witness a pre-1963 like situation when the Kosi belt was known for drought and famine.

The impact of this catastrophe is also manifold—the pace of development of Bihar is certainly going to come to a grinding halt, or may even get reversed.

Many would agree that history is going to repeat itself. The irony is that the international community is sitting quite and except for few announcements there has been no initiative as such to help the nation and the state tide over the disaster that is fast turning severe than the recent Tsunami.

The magnitude of devastation and destruction is such that no government will be able to tackle it single handedly. The job is enormous and response so far has been cold.

This is the time to fight back; Bihar is looking for help from all corners, all agencies and many nations. And while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the entire state machinery are struggling hard, so are the denizens of entire North Bihar.

Let helping hands come out and take Bihar out of this 'national calamity'.

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Post Comments Total Comments: 38 

Posted By P K Jha on 9/1/2008 5:03:50 PM 

Thanks a lot for such clear and to the point description. 

It is unfortunate to see few and lukewarm response to a huge catastrophe. It seems influential only get attention. Had there been industry and influential people with union etc. it would have attracted many fold response. 

Who cares (only few humane) for the poor lot? 

See how Orissa got support or for that matter Bhuj Earthquake. 

Still the large mouthed politicians are trying to gain millage only over the dead bodies and hungry, ill clothed affected. 

Thanks again for the call. 

Regards 

P K Jha 

Posted By Vikas Vaibhav on 9/1/2008 10:45:56 PM 

History always Repeats, and what we have to do is to learn from it and make sure that good things which happened in past happen again and again and at the same take precautions to never let the disasters repeat themselves. But it seems that some people never learn. We knew that if this river has shows its real self then something like this is sure to happen, but still we are not able to take precautions and steps in maintaining the barrage at Bhimnagar. But it seems that we are good only at finding the reasons after the damage is done. 

The ignorance of the government and taking the issue of maintaining the barrage in its condition lightly is finally costing us the life of crores of people. 

Well! what can i say, the damage is done and u say that the worst is still to come.what can be worst than this, is it going to wipe out the entire state. Keeping in mind the past history of the state and how it was moving ahead in the direction of development. This event seems to break the backbone of Bihar. 

If stopping this plague needs a hand of a surgeon, then i really wish to God to send one. Otherwise i really don't know how Bihar is going to recover from this loss. But still whatever may be the situation, no matter how worst it becomes we can not leave each others hand. 

I only wish to God that soon the authorized people can figure out a solution to stop this demon and stop this social slaughter. 

Posted By Sanjay Kumar on 9/2/2008 12:20:28 PM 

Outstanding article, gives clear picture of the magnitude. The write deserves credit of making this report exclusive and eye opener. The Kosi so far was a myth for me. Thanks I could understand the history and geography of it. 

Sanjay Kr, Hajipur 

Posted By Gajendra Kr Singh on 9/2/2008 12:29:02 PM 

Simply excellent and mind opener. The writer has successfully delineated the picture of the flood. He has given the history, hitherto unrevealed. He has successfully portrayed the picture in the aftermath of the flood 

Gajju 

Posted By A.K.Chandra on 9/2/2008 2:07:23 PM 

The writer has given the picture no newspaper was able to do it. He has rightly said that Bihar's development is going to be badly affected. The top level bureaucracy has be fooled Nitish Kr. IAS officers are unwilling to go to the affected area and they are doing only lip service. The writer has an indepth understanding of the problem. 

A K Chandra 

Posted By Aradhana Dutta on 9/4/2008 10:05:09 AM 

An eye opener for all readers. This article is really outstanding. I couldn't have got a better perspective about the cause for the present flood situation and demography of the problem. 

The havoc caused is immense but more unfortunate thing is the problem could have been avoided, its high time that we don't take Nature for granted. 

Aradhana 

Posted By Dr Birendra, IAS on 9/7/2008 12:54:32 PM 

The writer has given both historical and geographical picture hitherto untouched in media. The picture attached clears the concept very vividly. The web should publish such reports instead of publishing stereotype news and rhetoric. 

Birendra 

Posted By R. Ashok Kumar on 9/20/2008 12:59:10 PM 

It is interesting that the Eastern Embankment breach started on the 6th of August 2008. On the 5th of August 2008 a 6 MM quake occurred near the 12th May Sichuan quake: 

2008,08,05,094917.26, Latitude32.76, Longitude105.49,6.0MM 6km depth. 

And on the 25th of August 2008 a 6.8 MM quake occurred at Western Xizang. This was the last straw. 

See http://damsquakeskosirivershifts.blogspot.com 

This article shows the genesis of the catastrophe lies in quakes caused by dams on the Indian subcontinent. 

Posted By Colonel Mithilesh singh on 9/21/2008 11:04:52 AM 

I hail from Madhepura and I can understand the woes and sufferings of the victims. The writer has rightly described the picture. The real problem will start when the water recedes. The Kosi area is going to witness pre-1963 like situation. It requires massive investment and intense monitoring. 

Mithilesh 

Posted By Colonel Mithilesh Singh on 9/21/2008 3:53:15 PM 

The writer has very intelligently described the woes of the flood. The state govt must learn a lesson and do the needful 

mithilesh 

Posted By Rohit Ranjan on 9/22/2008 11:16:02 AM 

The writer has rightly projected the magnitude of the problem. The govt must act and search long lasting solutions instead of a cosmetic surgery. 

The construction of high dam is not the solution. It is surprising why the de-silting has not been done. 

Posted By Vimal Kr on 9/22/2008 12:10:20 PM 

Let the river be de-silted first before constructing high dams. The politics of flood relief should stop and real work should begin. 

Posted By N. Sinha on 9/22/2008 1:28:53 PM 

The writer has very minutely and geographically described the course of Kosi. It is a balanced and well contained article. The govt should take into account the valuable suggestion extended by the writer. 

N.Sinha 

Posted By R.K Verma on 9/22/2008 6:59:51 PM 

The writer has rightly said that the need has come to reconsider the viability of dams. 

Posted By Mantu on 9/22/2008 7:34:32 PM 

I hail from Madhepura. The writer has rightly said that the entire region will face pre-1963 like situation. The officials responsible should be punished. Nitish Kumar is good man but he should come out of the clutch of IAS coterie. IAS people are ruining this state. They have destroyed RJD and they would destroy NDA also. 

Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 9/23/2008 11:43:55 AM 

Google is very helpful in searching good articles on various issues. I was trying to understand this flood from geographical and social points of view. Several articles, I read, most of them political. This article has solved my problem. Now I could understand the technicality of the problem. everyone cries dam and dam, no one talks about desilting of the rivers. Thanks google and iGovernment for this beautiful article 

Posted By Ajay on 9/23/2008 12:33:39 PM 

The writer is requested to give a complete write up regarding rehabilitation. what should be done to bring back the areas to track. It seems that the writer has a deep knowledge about it he should share it with all. 

Posted By Riya Alias Swetlana on 9/23/2008 2:51:49 PM 

This is my papa's article and therefore I read it with much interest. Before this I could understand flood only through News channels. Now I understand it in a better way. Thanks to Papa 

Posted By Sapan Roy on 9/23/2008 3:06:50 PM 

Its an excellent article and the writer has described the intricacy of the problem in a lucid way. The magnitude of the problem is such that only govt cannot help it out.

Sapan, Patna 

Posted By Vivek on 9/28/2008 10:58:26 AM 

Such a devastation and so cool response from National media? This is not a flood it is a catastrophe. Bihar should be helped out of this tragedy. Unfortunate for this state. Nitish is doing hard. Politics should stop and rehabilitation and reconstruction should begin. 

Posted By Adarsh Bhardwaj on 10/6/2008 11:51:18 AM 

Finally there is an article that explains the clear story of Kosi's disasters. The immediate question, however, is to find out enough space to set up relief camps and make arrangements for the basic needs, including adequate food, for supporting over 15 lakh people. 

Posted By Amit on 10/6/2008 12:02:22 PM 

Its a really a good article that I have read in recent times on this problem.

Posted By Neeradhi on 10/6/2008 1:55:47 PM 

The article is really informative. Hope the politicians stop trying to gain political mileage out of the saddening situation and really do something for the suffering people. 

I hope we behave like responsible citizens and genuinely help our country mates. 

Posted By Kulkiran Preet on 10/6/2008 2:44:26 PM 

Really touching . Bihar should be helped to recover from such tragedy.Govt shouldn't sit quie. 

Posted By Nitin Bhardwaj on 10/6/2008 2:54:01 PM 

Never did I realise that the problem was so grave till I read this article. Good article to know the exact nature of problem. The Indian government should take this problem on high priority and seriously do something to put the river on right course or at least find some solution to construct a dam which can control the water of the river. 

The eminent and powerful personalities should also come forward to draw the attention to this problem. 

Nevertheless, the financial aid should continue so that the flood-hit people can fulfill their basic necessities. 

And I'll also like to know that how the posting of replies to this article only, is going to help Bihar?

Posted By Vishal Verma on 10/6/2008 3:07:43 PM 

The author has provided an in-depth detail of the Kosi Problem. In reality, it shakes all our claims of being competent with so called Super Powers. I think our government should take some corrective actions so that these kind of disasters do not happen again. Its time to do action action and action. 

Posted By Shekhar Verma on 10/6/2008 3:35:57 PM 

A comprehensive description of the disaster and its reasons.... Unfortunately there is no channel in our so called democratic country where common man can give its opinion and make them work for us ... however, with this posting we can at least make people aware of the things....Thanks to the writer ... 

Posted By Rahul Agarwal on 10/6/2008 4:07:42 PM 

The article gives the real picture of how the drastic catastrophe has ruined the lives of lakh of people in North Bihar. Unfortunately the governance is not paying the required attention. 

This is not just about what has happened, it's a warning for us on what could happen if appropriate measures are not taken in time. 

Such researched articles are required to make people aware of the reality which they don't get to know through media. Worth reading and giving a thought!! 

Posted By Shashank Arun Sinha on 10/6/2008 4:42:10 PM 

Excellent article. It's really first time I got to know the true picture. Till now I was only dependent on the information from TV news channels. It is really a great effort to draw the real picture of the tragedy. The govt should take into account the valuable suggestions given here by the writer. Please don't take the nature for granted. 

Posted By Rahul Deb Mukherji on 10/6/2008 5:42:08 PM 

Real eye opener.Very nice article. 

Posted By Gyanendra Kumar Gupta on 10/6/2008 8:09:30 PM 

Nice article. Shows the depth and knowledge of author. 

Posted By Anil Thatipalli on 10/6/2008 8:21:00 PM 

Nice article. 

Posted By Khushboo on 10/6/2008 9:27:06 PM 

This is a brilliantly written article that gives a full coverage of causes and effects. The writer has precisely pointed out the facts and figures in the article, which is an eye opener for many. 

Posted By Tuhina Dubey on 10/6/2008 10:08:23 PM 

This is truly an eye opener ... The problem needs to be addressed in a much bigger forum. 

Posted By Mitali Lalwani on 10/7/2008 11:38:08 AM 

An eye-opener for the Government ...but seems its still sleeping and innocent people are suffering due to the delay of the permanent cure of this.