The Kosi floods were a predictable ecological event. But Indian politicians have no time for the science of rivers, writes Jayanta Bandyopadhyay The author is professor at IIM Calcutta. He drafted the chapter on the world
Many people in the country are gripped by the destruction caused by floods in the Kosi river of Bihar, leading to vicious misery and displacement of nearly two-and-half million people there. However, floods are common and intrinsic to the Bihar economy.
NEW DELHI: Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Wednesday criticised the Bihar government for failing to plug the breach in the Kosi river that caused devastating floods in the
The Indian and Nepal governments have given the green signal to the construction of two mega dam projects to help rein in the tumultuous Kosi river. These two dams, called the Saptakosi and Sumkosi projects, will together provide 4,000 MW of electricity and will be constructed at a cost of Rs 40,000 crores.
There is in Nepal a deep ambivalence about India, which many in India tend to misinterpret as anti-Indianism.
India-Nepal relations have been badly mismanaged on both sides. The time has come to make a break with the past and explore new beginnings. In his article in the issue of 15 September of The Hindu, Prof. S. D. Muni has already covered the larger aspects of strategic and security concerns. This article will focus on water relations, though some reference to the larger context cannot be avoided.
The water in his ground floor house has already covered his chairs and dining table. So Vikash Ranjan Sinha, a grocery shop owner in Madhepura, moved up to the first floor with his octogenarian parents, wife and three children, including an infant.
IN the tsunami of December 2004, people heard a strange, deep rumbling before columns of the sea came in. In 2008, the people of north Bihar had no such warning. The river was silent and swift, rising from a deceptive two feet to nearly eight feet in a matter of hours, trapping lakhs of people in remote villages in the districts of Purnea, Madhepura, Araria, Supaul, Saharsa and Kul.
THE Kosi is often called Bihar's "river of sorrow" as it has a* I propensity to create displacement and despair for millions I regularly. But what if the misery and devastation was more a result of human folly rather than the river's fury?
