{"id":137511,"date":"2021-09-27T20:50:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=137511"},"modified":"2021-09-29T21:36:59","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T16:06:59","slug":"flood-management-that-cannot-be-watered-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/flood-management-that-cannot-be-watered-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Flood management that cannot be watered down\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Synopsis<\/strong>: Various issues regarding Indo-Nepal Flood management system and the way forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Many of Bihar\u2019s districts faces serious challenges with recurrent and massive flooding. This year also, they faced double problem of flooding and the novel coronavirus pandemic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of\u00a0Nepal\u2019s biggest river systems originate in the Himalayan glaciers\u00a0which then flow into India through\u00a0Bihar. During the monsoons, these\u00a0river systems flood causing many\u00a0problems for Bihar.\u00a0Hence, we need\u00a0process-driven coordination between the Centre and\u00a0the Government of Bihar to handle\u00a0the flooding in Nepal\u2019s Terai and\u00a0North Bihar (mainly\u00a0Mithilanchal\u00a0region).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the challenges\/issues with Indo-Nepal flood management?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Detailed project report not prepared<\/strong>: As part of the long-term measures to address the problem of massive and recurrent floods in Bihar, the Joint Project Office (JPO), Biratnagar, was established in Nepal in August 2004 to prepare a detailed project report to construct a high dam on the Nepal side (on the Kosi, Kamla and Bagmati rivers). The Government of Bihar has raised the matter at regular intervals. A group of officers formed by the CWC has to work on various aspects of the detailed project report and propose an action plan for its early completion. The Water Resources Department, Bihar has repeatedly requested the MoJS to expedite the progress of the detailed project report. Despite the best efforts made by the Government of Bihar, the task remains unaccomplished even after 17 years.<\/p>\n

Local resistance in Nepal<\/strong>: As in the existing India-Nepal Agreement on water resources, the State government of Bihar is authorised to execute flood protection works up to critical stretches inside Nepal territory along the India-Nepal border. In recent years, all such flood protection works have had to be carried out in the face of increasing local resistance.<\/p>\n

Issues with Nepali administration<\/strong>: During the strengthening work proposed on the right marginal bund on the Lalbekia river, the local Nepali administration claimed that the said bund area fell in no man\u2019s land. This is notwithstanding the fact that the embankment was built by India 30 years ago and there has not been any dispute regarding its maintenance all these years. Breach closure\/protective work of right guide bund of the Kamla weir remains incomplete due to the lack of permission. However, resolution of the impasse is awaited. This is another important matter to be looked at.<\/p>\n

What is the way forward?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

First,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Nepal and India should restart the\u00a0water dialogue and come up with\u00a0policies to safeguard the interests\u00a0of all those who have been affected\u00a0on both sides of the border.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Second,<\/strong> <\/em>two\u00a0countries\u00a0should\u00a0come together and assess the factors that are causing unimaginable\u00a0losses through flooding every year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Third,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0optimisation\u00a0of the infrastructure\u00a0is important for\u00a0flood\u00a0management.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fourth,<\/strong> <\/em>management of\u00a0green cover\u00a0and water cooperation\u00a0is needed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fifth,<\/strong><\/em> <\/span>by\u00a0controlling the\u00a0flooding\u00a0and using the\u00a0water resources for common developmental uses such as hydroelectricity, irrigation and waterways,\u00a0India-Nepal relations can be\u00a0strengthened even further.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bilateral cooperation is the essential part of water sharing and water management between the two countries. Nepal must play its part in ensuring a sustainable way forward. For the sake of development and environmental protection, we need to turn the crisis into an opportunity through wisdom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article “<\/span>Flood management that cannot be watered down<\/span><\/b>” published in\u00a0<\/span>The Hindu<\/span><\/b>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/span>27th September 2021.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synopsis: Various issues regarding Indo-Nepal Flood management system and the way forward. Introduction\u00a0 Many of Bihar\u2019s districts faces serious challenges with recurrent and massive flooding. This year also, they faced double problem of flooding and the novel coronavirus pandemic.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of\u00a0Nepal\u2019s biggest river systems originate in the Himalayan glaciers\u00a0which then flow into India through\u00a0Bihar. During… Continue reading Flood management that cannot be watered down\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[411,8938,216,8654],"class_list":["post-137511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-disaster-management","tag-flood-management","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-urban-flooding","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1701863350},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}