• UNPARDONABLE FLAWS AND DISCREPANCIES IN THE ROLE OF THE CENTRAL AND
BIHAR GOVERNMENT IN MANAGING THE TERRIBLE DISASTER CAUSED BY THE KOSHI
EMBANKMENT BREACH AND THE RIVER CHANGING ITS COURSE
• INDEPENDENT JUDICIAL INQUIRY IS INDISPENSABLE TO PROBE INTO AND ANALYSE
THE CAUSES OF THIS CALAMITY
• STOP ENTANGLING AND INTERFERING WITH THE NATURAL FLOWS OF THE RIVERS OF
NORTH BIHAR
The greed and ignorance of those in power, who typically interfered with the
changed natural flow of the ‘sapta Koshi’ (seven streams) and its 60
tributaries by erecting embankments, playing the politics of large dams, has
resulted in the displacement, starvation, deprivation and even death of many of
the 25-30 lakh people in Bihar. The Koshi calamity is illustration of the
catastrophic impacts on the lives and livelihood of people and the natural
resources that would accrue out of any such meddling with rivers, duping people
in the garb of ‘development’.
As in Supoul, even today, thousands of people in large numbers in village after
village are seeking haven on rooftops and canals, whether in Purlia, the
hamlets and villages of Madhupura and towns like Muraliganj already buried
under water, clinging to whatever little – cattle or resources – that has
been salvaged.
Citizens initiatives and civil society groups were the first to reach out and
even today many small groups and villagers are supporting the
calamity–affected. The role and response of the ‘State’ is admittedly
very haphazard and at once insensitive. This has become very clear to everyone.
Not a few tens, not even hundreds, no one is sure about the total number of
people whose lives have been lost in the calamity. That our state and society
does not have the strength to save these thousands, for almost 20 days, is not
just shocking but deeply agonizing. From what has been happening in Bihar since
the floods, we are convinced that not just right to life and livelihood of
lakhs of people, but even basic Constitutional guarantees and rights to food as
sustained in the orders of the Supreme Court of India are made funny and
trivialised.
Though, for the time being, the intervention by the civil society and the state
is, to a limited extent, bringing above a change in the situation, we do expect
the state to play a more pro-active role, with diligence and sensitivity with
better and co-ordinated planning and public participation, instituting a
function and effective grievance redressal and problem solving mechanism so
that at least the minimum goods and right of people are delivered.
Though the Prime Minister has announced a relief of Rs 1000 crores and made
available 1.5 lakh tonnes of food grains to Bihar Government, the role of
Centre does not end by this. That no Central Ministerial and monitoring team,
assisted by a Central Expert Committee has been constituted or operationalised
as mandated by the National Disaster Management Act, 2005 and National Disaster
Policy, is a grave blunder, more particularly since of displacement and
devastation of the lives of lakhs of people, is colossal.
This only explains the incapacity of the ‘State’. The inordinate delay and
incomplete delivering of the food grains provided by the Centre reaching to
hundreds of villages, is simply incomprehensible. What is the reason behind the
state not co-opting and involving the civil society, even today, in ensuring
the central grants reaching into all the villages. It is absolutely essential
that a functional and accessible Public Distribution System is immediately put
in place so that the state makes available adequate quantity of its food grains
and Kerosene at all non-governmental relief camps. The aerial dropping of food
packets, having proved to be unsuccessful and even physically dangerous at
places, it is necessary that some other method be used instead and the number
of boats be increased even to reach out with food supplies, to all those who
are still there in the villages.
Having listened to hordes of rescued villagers, fuel is an urgent need for a
well-planned and well-mannered boat-use system. All necessary things should be
at all rescue points, which are effective guidance-support centres that could
co-ordinate with every relief camp. Except for the provision that every
affected family be provided house plots and limited food grains as per the
guidelines of the National Calamity Relief Fund, it is quite apparent that the
Government of Bihar does not, till date, have any concrete policy for those
displaced by floods and calamities. Nonetheless, the rulers can escape from
their responsibility of providing compensation and alternative livelihood to
almost half of the population in Bihar that has been affected by the floods.
This in fact is the time for the process of formulation of a State
Rehabilitation Policy for all those affected and displaced, to be started
immediately.
Even as this life and death struggle continues, an open and informed debate
about the reasons behind the Koshi disaster must also go on. This must also be
in the contest of the official lackadaisical response and indulgence between
the 6th -18th August, as also the non-implementation of the Indo-Nepal
agreement on Koshi. Going beyond the statement of engineer Satyanarayan, full
information relating to the management the Koshi river, status of the
embankment in the previous year, its monitoring and maintenance and all
agreements and correspondence between the Government of Bihar and the Centre,
as also between the Governments of Nepal and India and all related information
must be placed before the people at the earliest. To objectively investigate
into and evaluate a disaster of this kind, a high level judicial commission
must be urgently constituted. If the Government does not do this on its own
volition, the Judiciary of this country should step in and do the needful. It
is also necessary that the National Human Rights Commission intervene into this
colossal human disaster, which was not happened till date and is quite
saddening.
The government of Bihar must, at least by now, concede to its folly of
considering high dams, embankments and having a sustainable solution, by
entangling the Koshi natural flows, which is replete with water and catchments.
The people of Bihar must quickly initiate an open and informed dialogue on
alternatives. A decentralized policy of flood management (as against flood
control) by effective co-ordination between the Governments and people of
Nepal, that would treat the land, water and green belt must be and is the
immediate need. The movements and experts need to be involved in the process of
any such alternative policy.
Medha Patkar Vijay Bhai Rajkumar Sinha
