People's Democracy

DEVASTATING FLOODS

Act And Provide Relief To The People

EVERY year, this time, floods turn out to be the giant killer in India. According to the National Disaster Management Authority which puts out a weekly report, as of August 6, 2007, 1294 people have so far lost their lives during the current South West monsoon.

The United Nations has described these floods in India and in South Asia as the worst in living memory.

The worst hit have been the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Orissa while deaths and damage to livestock and standing crops have also been reported due to heavy rains in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, West Bengal and elsewhere.

In Bihar, 108.07 lakhs of people in 4,805 villages in 19 districts have been affected. Over 25,000 people are living in 738 relief camps. Many parts of the state are so badly marooned that neither people have been able to reach relief camps nor could camps be set-up in these areas. According to reports, standing crops valued at over Rs 130 crore, besides public and private property worth over Rs 175 crore has been damaged in the floods. It has been estimated that crops in nearly 5 lakh hectares have been destroyed.

In Uttar Pradesh, over 20 lakh people in 2,665 villages have been badly affected by the floods. Over 1.60 lakhs of people are currently staying in 116 relief camps. Of the villages affected, a total of 1,091 have been marooned by flood waters.

In Assam, heavy floods have affected 5,862 villages in 26 out of the 27 districts. Nearly 1, 30,000 people have been living in 665 relief camps and over 3, 30,000 people in temporary relief shelters. Standing crop on 2.48 lakh hectares has been destroyed and nearly 1,200 houses have been badly damaged.

Heavy rains and swollen rivers are taking their toll in many other states with widespread destruction of cattle and crops as well. Even in Kerala, nearly 12,000 people are living in 76 relief camps.

Needless to add, such a massive natural disaster needs to be met by the combined efforts and resources of the central government and the respective state governments. Though the National Disaster Management Authority had been formed by the previous NDA government, neither its mandate nor the resource allocation has been decided so far. Hence, as always, the state governments have been crying for relief while the central government is still assessing the situation to determine the quantity of resources that will be transferred. Such bureaucratic delays are adversely affecting the living conditions of peoples in the devastated areas.

While such phenomenon are not unusual in India, with floods occurring every year in one part or the other, the range and intensity of the devastation this year has been singularly unprecedented. It is, therefore, necessary to initiate urgently certain steps to stop the recurrence of such devastation in the future.

Much of the floods in eastern UP and Bihar have been caused by swollen water discharges from Nepal. The issue of management of river waters between India and Nepal has been a long pending issue which now needs to be urgently addressed. The Mahakali Agreement signed between India and Nepal way back in 1996 when the CPN(UML) prime minister Manmohan Adhikari was heading the government is still awaiting implementation. It is, indeed, a crime that these waters – which if properly marshalled and channelised could produce thousands of megawatts of electricity – are continuing to claim hundreds of lives simply because they run untamed.

Likewise, river water management agreements are urgently required with China specifically with respect to the Brahmaputra river. This river that flows in serene beauty in Tibet wreaks havoc as it passes through India’s North East. As we noted earlier, the mighty Brahmaputra has devastated 26 out of Assam’s 27 districts apart from creating agony and loss in other North Eastern states.

Another issue that needs urgent attention is that of de-silting of major North Indian rivers like the Ganga. In the absence of this, the quantum of water flow of the river bed is constantly declining, leading to flash floods. Apart from cleaning the rivers and permitting a more efficient inland waterways system by increasing the depth of rivers, de-silting would also help in controlling floods.

In many parts, the major rivers which cause havoc are reduced to a trickle during the winter months. It has now become widespread that illegal encroachment of land on the river belts and the banks is reducing the area for the waters to flow when the rivers are in full swing. This is also contributing to the occurrence of floods and needs to be checked.

While immediate and urgent attention must be paid for providing relief and rehabilitation to the affected people and protecting the livestock and the standing crop, the above mentioned issues must also find the attention of the governments, both central and in the states. While natural disasters may not be completely controlled and prevented, the manmade contribution for the occurrence of such disasters must be eliminated.