The forces of nature are insurmountable.Flood, cyclones, earthquakes etc claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Its a grim reminder to the human race that nature still has its say in balancing the life and death ratio on this planet.
The recent Bihar floods are a gruesome reminder of the above fact. As mentioned above, these flood could be easily considered to be the wrath of mother nature but there are underlying facts people are still unaware of. It is yet another failure on the already infamous govt of the state of Bihar. With over a hundred lives lost, millions rendered homeless and property damage running into hundreds of crores, these floods could very easily be one of the most devastating floods in the history of India. According to a popular news channel, the figures stand at 695 fatalities, over 20 million (2 crore) people spread over 9,336 villages in 20 districts affected.
The Kosi river, the overflowing of which caused these floods , originates in the Himalayas and is a part of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna riverine system, which carries within its fold a population of 1.3 billion people spread across five countries. Given the crystalline nature of the rock and its young morphology, it carries in its path large quantities of silt and other matter which are not alluvial and of infertile nature. This silt is deposited in the plains of Bihar. The trouble is further compounded by the steep gradient from which the river emerges and enters the Bihar plains. Its large deposits of silt and gradient force the river to meander along unpredictable paths thus earning for itself the name of 'river of sorrow'. The first credible attempt to tame the river began in 1956 after the massive floods of 1954 with an eastern and a western embankment of 105 and 106 km respectively of which about 32 km of the eastern embankment is in Nepal. These embankments were completed in 1959. The barrage at Birpur to regulate water flow was finished in 1964.
The barrage which was supposed to be repaired from time to time by the state government has not been repaired for the past 15 years. The same wasn’t reported by the Bihar govt to the concerned autorities.Had it not been for the weak barrage, this colossal damage to life and property could have easily been averted.Despite the budget allocation for this project being in excess of the required amount,the required safety measure weren’t taken. Even the allocation for the Flood relief wasn’t properly utilized.
The government needs to make miraculous efforts for bringing things under control in Bihar or any state for that matter. All the departments right from the meteorological dept to the disaster management departments need to be on alert all the time.Prior warnings of floods, hurricanes or cyclones need to be delivered to the concerned people through the appropriate channels. This time its a flood , the next time could be any other disaster which would lead to another holocaust.
It is time that the Govt bodies realize that forces of nature are unbeatable and have ways in place to at least avert those calamities that can be seen away without a life being lost.
1 comment:
Everything said and done, the government again has to bear the brunt. I'm not saying that we should let the Bihar government go scott-free but a thought should be given as to what we, as citizens are doing. If grown up people are going and building houses near the embankments of rivers, aware of the fact that the river floods frequently, who is to blame?
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