I was reading one of the views about the same.
It was like this:
Koshi River and several such rivers of east and north Bihar are typical examples of our casual approach both by local authorities and the government. It is surprising to note that a majority of IAS/IPS officers in India hail from northern and eastern parts of Bihar, which every year is facing an acute problem of floods. Probably the lack of conviction for the state is the reason, which otherwise prevails in cadres of other states. Otherwise they would have drawn up plans for a permanent solution of their states recurring problem.
Instead of taking the natural way of solving the problem and tackling the problem of the changing change of these small rivers the authorities and governments of this beleaguered state have been creating only bunds to stop the flow of rivers. They are not going into the root cause of this recurring problem, which has come to a stage, which is going to create irreparable losses to the people of Bihar and its poor economy. Crores of rupees have been wasted on paper on creating the bunds, but the problem will mount every year.
Our authorities should learn how the Huang-ho, the Yellow River of China which had killed more than 1.5 million people in 1887, was changed to be rechristened the ’cradle of civilization’ from ’China’s Sorrow’. The river Huang-ho earned its epithet "China’s Sorrow" and "The Ungovernable" due to its periodic catastrophic flooding. It was then realised by Chinese authorities that heavy siltation in the rivers was the major problem which was making the river terrorise and kill people.
The Chinese have taken steps to convert this sorrow into a spreading smile on the faces of the people who were otherwise being victimised by the river. The Chinese have adopted a dual method of taming the flow and regular desiltation of these rivers.
They have erected dams along Huang-ho River to tame its flow, remove regularly the fertile silt from the river bed and distribute this fertile silt to neighbouring areas to increase fertility of those lands. They have also altered the flow of Huang-ho River to new lakes. By adopting these three methods the Chinese have made ’The Ungovernable" Huang-ho to be governed by people.
Can our authorities learn a lesson from China? Can these Chinese models be replicated in Bihar to lessen the problem of the ill fated state? Can our authorities draw a complete plan for Bihar for desiltation of the small rivers? Can our authorities work with full commitment to save millions in Bihar from the next floods? And finally, but most importantly can diverting money in the name of flood relief be stopped in Bihar?
any answers?
