Perspectives

bows before the swift currents and when the river subsides, it regains its place. The Living with Floods cane understands the times and behaves accordingly; it is always in our grip and never misbehaves with us. There are no People’s Perspective traces of arrogance in it and that is the reason why it hasn’t got to leave its place. Modern flood control technologies have neither been very The plants, the trees and the creepers which successful nor are they people-friendly. This is because their bow before the might of winds and the rivers and raise their heads only when the focus is on trying to control the waters of rivers in spate and not of wind or the river subsides, are never making use of the flood waters in the best possible way, while destroyed.” Bhishma says “...when a ensuring the least damage. This forms the basis of flood learned king assesses that the opponent is ‘management’ traditionally in many villages in Bihar, West more powerful, he should behave like a cane and must bow before the mighty. Bengal and Bangladesh. There lies wisdom”.1 Bhishma’s teaching is one of the first lessons in dealing with DINESH KUMAR MISHRA eastern coast. This is where the talks break. the rivers. India agreed to give Nepal a trade route The arrogance of scientists and engi- he entire debate on the flood ends during the visit of Nepalese prime min- neers in controlling the nature has created with the words that people should ister, Manmohan Adhikari, to India and, more problems than solved them. We keep Tlive with floods. This is interpreted in return, got the permission to study some hearing about ‘flood-resistant houses’, by different interest groups in the different dams proposed to be constructed in Nepal. ‘flood-resistant crops’ and ‘flood-proof- ways. To a politician or most of engineers It took them over 45 years to sort out this ing’ and so on. Why cannot we have flood- this phrase is an object of ridicule as they small difference. The water and power tolerant houses and flood-tolerant crops. think that the proponents of the idea are rates, together with the benefits of flood Why don’t we think of converting the fatalists who have accepted defeat against control, are yet to be resolved. Under the flood water into a resource instead of nature. circumstances floods have to be tackled dealing with it as a problem? We know the limitation of modern flood at the local level and people’s science and control technology and that the engineers, technology will be the major tool. Case of Partapur when they talk about living with floods, There is an incident in the Mahabharata flood management instead of flood con- where the patriarch Bhishma, lying on a On the bank of Balan River in trol, or the flood plain zoning as the possible bed of arrows, awaiting his death, gives Jhanjharpur block of the Madhubani dis- solution to the problem of floods, are sermons to Pandavas every evening on the trict, in Bihar, there used to be a village under compulsion to write those prescrip- various aspects of governance. Once called Partapur. The village had one major tions. The interesting thing is that they Yudhishthir asked him about different and three small tanks in it. The bigger tank simultaneously talk about big dams as a kinds of treaties that a king could enter was located at a higher elevation and linked permanent solution to the problem of into with other kings. While defining kinds to the river by a drain. The entry point of floods. They maintain that the proposed of treaties, Bhishma narrates this story of the drain near the river was blocked by Kosi High Dam, for example, will solve the ocean and his wives, the rivers. Once mud. As the water level of the Balan used all the flood problem of north Bihar and the ocean called all his wives and said, to rise during the rains, the villagers would that there is no alternative to this dam. “Rivers! I notice that during floods you open the drain and the river water would They hold similar views about the pro- get filled to the brim and uproot big trees gush towards the main tank. After the posed Pancheshwar, Karnali, Subansiri, and carry them with their roots and branches main tank was filled, the river water was Dihang and the Tipaimukh dams. These to me but the cane is not seen in your flow. led to other smaller tanks through link are the solutions that can be spelt out in The cane is a thin and very insignificant drains. Once the tanks were filled, the inlet two or three words. To a person who plant. It has no strength of its own and drain was closed again only to be opened understands the limitations of technology grows all along your banks. Still, you are the following year. and is not amused by the slogans, things not able to bring it to me. Do you avoid These tanks were used for providing are different. However on the Kosi High the plant or has it done some good to you supplementary irrigation to pulse and the Dam negotiations are going on for past 53 (that you favour it). I want to hear about oil seed crop, grow fishes, and meet the years with Nepal. Nepal has its own pri- it (from you) why this plant does not leave daily needs of water. The villagers had orities. Whenever India has taken up the your banks and come here.” their own traditional variety of paddy seeds issue of construction of dams in Nepal in Ganga replies, “O Lord of rivers! The that would tolerate submergence up to 1.2 past, it has put a condition of providing big trees, because of their arrogance, do to1.6 meters depth of water. The river it with an alternative trade route on India’s not bow before the might of our flow. being free to spill, the Balan waters would western coast. India, obviously, do not Because of this confront nature, they get never rise beyond this height. Thus one agree to this proposal because it has al- destroyed and have to leave their places gets paddy, plenty of fish in the tanks and ready given Nepal a trade route on its but the cane is not like them. The cane the river, pulses and the oil seeds. Their

2756 Economic and Political Weekly July 21, 2001 wells would never dry and they had enough in the winter season, in the later part of nutrient. Along with the floodwaters, eggs time to relax. No wonder that the floods the 19th century. People used to throw of fishes would travel to all the places in the Balan were eagerly awaited. small bundhs across these nallahs or even wherever the river water could go and If, in any season, the flood waters rose rivers like Kamala and raise the water level would soon become small fingerlings, extraordinarily, the villagers would move upstream and push the water into the which were carnivorous in nature and to safer heights within the village. They abandoned channels of the rivers or the would finish off any larvae of the mosqui- would come back to their houses once the canals and take the water to long distance toes that are bred in the stagnating water river subsided, thus dealing with it on through small channels and that they of the countryside. The river would spill equal terms. This system of dealing with called ‘pynes’. The discharge in the river over five to six times during the monsoon floods and irrigation was no way less used to be low (around 18 to 26 cumecs) season and would irrigate the fields along scientific except that there was no aggres- in that season and was well within the with the nutrients that comes with its waters. sion against nature and no large schemes means of the farmers to handle. King had The paddy and the fishes would grow were involved. Then whole show was successfully tackled many famines in the together and if there was a dry spell, the managed by the villagers and was entirely area with very small inputs [Darbhanga villages in the West Bengal had a series within there own control. Tapping river Raj 1902]. of ponds, one in every house, where the water from the top layers of the river flow Similar was the practice in the Kosi belt fishes could take refuge and the water meant that only fine silt, beneficial for the also. The untamed Kosi used to flow in could be used for the irrigation in emer- crops, could enter the channel and the various channels that spread over a vast gencies. After the rains were over, the coarse sand, flowing in the middle or lower area. There was a flood moderation of sorts people used to replace the bundhs on the layers of river water being heavy, would because the river water could spread over Damodar. The retained moisture in the not be able to enter the tanks. a large area. These small channels like the fields was enough for the cultivation of the Almost all the villages in this part of the Dhemura, and the Goraho, the Harisankhi, pulses and the oil seeds. No wonder, country had some arrangement worked out the Lagunia and the Tiljuga, etc were Burdwan was one of the richest agriculture with the river, streams and tanks for irri- bunded during the winter season and water areas of the country. gation. The Balan was joined with the taken to fields for irrigation. The problem The British understood the people’s Kamala in 1954 and the combined course, lay in the areas that were subject to deep wisdom but only after destroying it. They popularly known as Kamala-Balan, was sand casting and erosion, but there used banked the Damodar with strong and sturdy embanked in early 1960s. Partapur got to be some social security. The neigh- embankments to prevent its spill, while the trapped between these embankments and bouring villages/families used to help the strategy lay in spreading this water making the villagers deserted it, fanning out in all flood victims by offering their lands to the fullest use of its availability. Com- directions. The census report (1991) lists them, on a temporary basis, for building ments Willcocks, “...No villager could have it as a village with no habitations. houses and cultivation. This was not be- given such a sound engineering opinion The tanks in the villages in Mithila region cause of any mercy shown to the victims unless they had heard their fathers talk of were an essential part of life, which were but out of consideration that, some time such things, or had themselves seen the used for rituals, bathing, washing, fisher- in future, they also might get hit by the banks being cut. It explains the 40 to 50 ies, cattle and growing Makhana besides river and need a helping hand. Such ges- breaches in single year in the Damodar being used for irrigation in the winter tures are not seen anymore. Thousands of river banks” [Willcocks 1930]. Since the season. The villagers cleaned these tanks the people are rendered homeless and people used to affect 40 to 50 cuts simul- every year, as a ritual, on the Sankranti day landless every year due to erosion of the taneously in the river embankments, the of the month of Vaishakh (roughly in the rivers and we do not have a policy to floods could never become a problem. The middle of April). The soil that was dug out rehabilitate them. British thought in the beginning, that annually was used for washing and also breaching the embankments was the handi- as manure in the fields. All these tanks are Burdwan – Granary of East work of the ‘anti-social elements’. in a dilapidated condition now as their The drainage pattern of the flood plains maintenance and upkeep has slipped into Willcocks (1930) reported about the has been ruined because of the construc- the hands of the government. Damodar river floods and the irrigation tion of the embankments and thoughtless Kautilya had written a lot about the tanks, system that the farmers in the Burdwan extension of the roads, railway lines, canals their construction, maintenance and shar- district of West Bengal had been follow- without reasonable provision of drainage. ing and usage of tank waters in his famous ing. The farmers used to construct low The village roads built under the Jawahar Arthshastra (Dharmasthaniya Tritiya height bundhs, one meter or so in height, Rozgar Yojana have brought floods from Adhikaran, chapter 9, Vastu Vikraya along the river. With the onset of the the periphery of the village to the doorsteps Prakarana). Tanks had a vital role to play monsoon, the rainwater used to collect in of the household as there is virtually, no in the economy of south India and detailed their fields where they could sow the paddy provision of drainage through them. The records are available about them. Vedvyas, seeds. By the time the seedlings were ready road-builders are not even aware that there in Mahabharata, talks extensively about for transplantation, the river also used to should be some arrangement for drainage the variety of tanks that can hold water till rise with the advancement of monsoon and through these roads. A careful study of the the monsoon, winter, autumn and summer transplantation used to take place. And traditional practices is the need of the hour. months. Arranging for water for the use then the villagers would resort to a large The study would reveal the living pat- of common public was considered as one scale and simultaneous breaching of the tern and the coping mechanism of people of the most revered job (Mahabharata, embankments. The river water would come in the flooded areas, people’s strategies of Anushasan Parva, Chapter 58). gushing into the paddy fields. Just because facing the floods. This is particularly R S Sing, sub manager of the Raj the bundhs were of low height, it was only important because we are still looking at Darbhanga had exploited the potential of the top of the layer water that came into our problems through the European or irrigation through small rivers and nallahs, the fields and this was a very rich soil American eye.

Economic and Political Weekly July 21, 2001 2757 As the situation stands today, the flood of destruction there. People in north-east to the user but, surely, pollutes the water water stays for a longer period in the have made use of bamboo in an admirable flowing underneath. countryside and it easily takes the month way in the construction of floors, roofs and People in the perennially flooded area of November to get the fields dried and walls. They have used bamboo as stilts to of the north Bihar climb the trees, sit in start sowing operation for the rabi crop. support the house. Small floods pass under shallow water or look for some hide out With the snow melt in the Himalayas, by the floor of the structures without causing behind the bushes of aquatic weeds to the end of May, many rivers start getting any damage. Lofts, within the homes, defecate during the floods. One can easily water into them and this water sometimes provide space for storing essentials that imagine the plight of women under such spreads into the countryside. News about includes fodder and fuel. Bamboo floors circumstances because there is hardly any floods in Assam and north-east start pour- are plastered with mud and that is how the place available where they can get some ing in by the month of May. It will be ideal space for cooking is carved out within the place of privacy. Sometimes, the flood to develop crops that could be harvested home. Goats and piglets are kept in the victims take shelter on high ground; be it during this period and their water require- verandas of the houses. Just because the the embankment, the road, the railway ment should normally be met from the floor is made of bamboo matting, spraying line, a raised ground or a hillock or any moisture content of the soil since irrigation of small quantity of water clears the entire such place and it takes little time to get in the most of flooded areas either does dirt from the floor. All the important the place filthy. If latrines could be devised not exist or is very costly. papers are carefully preserved by the people at a short notice at these points, it will be In some parts of the north Bihar, people in the bamboo itself and a cap is securely a great relief, at least, to the women coming resort to multiple cropping as they sow placed on the top. No wonder, Kautilya, to the camps. Terra-cotta squatting pans green gram, maize and paddy simulta- in his Arthshashtra, suggested that floods are made by some organisations in Orissa neously in the month of February/March. can be tackled with the help of bamboo and Maharashtra. These are cheap to make Paddy is at risk in case of early floods but and boats. and affordable and can be manufactured the other two crops are harvested before locally and put to immediate use. Such the rains. The farmer never returns empty Bamboo Cultivation toilets can take care of the privacy part of handed to his home. Some attempts have the sanitation system. been made in Bihar and eastern Uttar Bamboo cultivation should be encour- With the knowledge that is available Pradesh to cultivate rabi crops in ‘chaurs’ aged wherever possible in the flood-prone today about safe disposal of the human in the areas to which the accumulated areas. Not only does it prevent damage to excreta, it is impossible not to pollute the water recedes at the time most suited for the human settlements, it comes to the surface or the groundwater in flooded or sowing, with positive results. Some ex- people’s rescue after the floods in con- waterlogged conditions at very low and periments with new variety of paddy in the structing the houses. Any other tree, which affordable costs. Even if excreta disposal rabi season (like Gautam) have yielded can withstand prolonged submergence, is made effective at certain locations, little good results. There is a need to consolidate would be useful in the flooded areas because can be done to prevent the drains and the these efforts [Saran 1998]. the wood is any way needed for fuel. dead bodies from polluting the water in In case of repeated floods, the paddy Some raised ground within or near the the river basins in floods. seedlings get drowned and spoilt. It takes village will be of great use for the people Pollution of the drinking water sources about three weeks to sow the seeds again and the cattle to move under emergencies. is a major problem in the flooded area. and rear them to transplantation level. This Such raised grounds was customary in the Wells have become obsolete, hand pumps delay has its impact on the output. In north-east and is also seen in Bangladesh, get submerged and the flood waters, which Bangladesh, the farmers are reported to pre- known locally as ‘killah’. Embankments most people are compelled to consume, is pare emergency seed beds on the floating along the rivers are replacing these struc- highly polluted. Chemical dosing of water bamboo platform and anchor them to some tures very fast. Following the 1987 floods, cannot be organised on the scale that is strong object. In case transplanted paddy in Bihar, the government had announced needed, it involves money and needs is drowned, re-plantation becomes easy that it would build such raised mounds in imparting education to the flood victims with the use of floating seedbeds [ADAB the villages but it is a promise forgotten. about the methods and quantity of dosing. 1998]. There is good scope for crops grown In the Kaziranga National Park, in Assam, Boiling of water is ruled out because fuel over sand-cast lands like water melons, the Indian army has constructed raised is scarce. cucumbers, etc. Traditional growers of platforms and elephants and rhinos take Most floods are accompanied with rain- these crops can help in such ventures. shelter on them. This is a commendable water which is safest to drink. Can engi- Let us take a look into the traditional step and should be extended to other flood- neers device some cheaper method of housing in the flooded areas. Bamboo, prone areas also for the benefit of cattle. collecting rainwater in such places for the wood, thatch, paddy straw, various kinds In the stilted houses of north-east, pro- consumption of the flood victims? Oil tins of weeds, palm tree-leaves and stems, and vision of latrines is made on the raised or the troughs for animal feed are the items coconut leaves become the basic building floor and the pigs are kept on the ground that immediately come to mind for storing materials in the flood-prone areas. Some floor to do the scavenging part of it. In such water. Polythene sheets can be tied times the walls and roofs are plastered with some Assamese houses floating latrines to the roofs of two houses and the collected mud which has to be replaced after the made of braced banana stems are tied to water can be led to some container. These rainy season is over, if the house has been one corner of the house. A hole of 10 to12 sheets are common relief material. If this subjected to running water. centimetre diameter is cut in this platform can be done, all that one has to do is so Bamboo is a wonderful building mate- for defecation. As the flood-level rises, so tell people to use the water stored, thus. rial. Whenever a village is trapped within does the floating platform. Jute sacks or This can be done easily if the people know floods or is exposed to breaches, almost polythene bags are used to provide for the in advance where they will move in case the entire village is wiped out but the enclosure in such latrines. This method for of emergency. Once the people have seen bamboo remains intact to narrate the tale excreta disposal offers some convenience the methods of collecting rainwater and

2758 Economic and Political Weekly July 21, 2001 the need for it, the rest is easy. If there is these structures and thus give least resis- If the embankments breach, then the people safe water to drink, most of the post-flood tance to the flowing water. outside will suffer. The choice, in fact, is ailments are automatically taken care of. very limited. It sounds incredible to think of Rajasthan Controlled Flooding It is essential, therefore, that inundation in case of floods although the state has maps of the area are prepared for every experienced severe floods in 1996 and Controlled flooding resembles, to an possible breach along the embankment 1997. The people there are well versed extent, the technique of detention basins length and also for every depth of flooding in harvesting rainwater for domestic and, in its refined form, will come very within the embankments. For the sake of consumption round the year. Their exper- close to the Willcocks’s innovations at convenience, this mapping can be done at tise in collecting rainwater can be used Burdwan. Should this technique be deve- an interval of every three km on the em- in flood-prone areas too, with suitable loped sincerely, the onus of dealing with bankment. Thus, if the eastern Kosi em- modifications. floods will shift from the technical staff bankment is 126 km long, there will be A good thing about the floods in our to society, which, in turn, will find its own roughly about 40 points for which the country is that its period is almost defined. way to tackle floods. This, probably, is the inundation maps will have to be prepared. Can we have our annual holidays of schools, reason why only those engineers, who have Once this is done, it will be possible to colleges and all other educational institu- retired from the service, propagate the idea. identify the locations, which could act as tions during this period? The students of Wilburn Inglis, former chief engineer of a flood shelter. The necessary infrastruc- the medical and veterinary colleges can be united Bengal (1908), and William ture may have to be developed here pro- deployed in the flooded areas for treating Willcocks (1930) attained enlightenment viding all the essential facilities like drink- minor ailments and given some credit for only after they retired and the tradition ing water, sanitation, food, fodder, fuel their involvement. This is a practice in continues till date. The problem with and first aid, etc, for the persons and the Assam and some other states where the such people is that when they were in a cattle that are likely to come to these centres. flood victims do get the medical assistance position to do something, they chose to This will prevent panic exodus of people at the time of their need. In the areas where keep quiet. After all, if anything new or for help. The necessary facilities can be floods continue over a longer period, float- off the track is to be done, it will run the provided at these points. A large number ing postal and banking services can be risk of failure or opposition from the status of primary schools, mostly stilted struc- provided to the affected people by rotation quo lobby. tures, were built in west Bengal following through boats. Floating banking services People, who are breaching the embank- the floods of 1978 and are reportedly put were, in fact, been provided until recently ments, whether those living inside the to good use during the floods. in the Sunderbans. embankments, because of rising flood Inundation maps are needed for the Cattle are often ignored in any planning levels or the ones living outside the em- communities living within the embank- for meeting floods and it needs extra care in bankments, because of the prolonged ments also. If the embankment is firm and meeting their demands. Fodder and medi- waterlogging, are also doing the same thing sturdy, the flood levels within the embank- cine for cattle is an important emergency – controlled flooding – but are rated ‘anti- ment would rise and the people may have input. Surviving on inedible things and social elements’ by the engineers and the to shift to safer places. In fact, a good standing in water for prolonged duration politicians. There is a need to discuss the number of people shift on to the embank- become their routine. issue at lengths. One is not sure whether ments themselves. In that case, adequate Modern interventions, in the name of the engineers are aware of the kind and arrangement for living should be provided flood control, have disturbed the equilib- extent of people’s education and on the embankments. rium between the rivers and the commu- organisation that would be needed before Further, the breach at any point may nities. In good old days the people gen- taking up of controlled flooding. This is induce a chain reaction. The water that erally, knew the level to which the river an important point because there is virtu- comes out of the breach spot, tries to re- would rise, the duration and the frequency ally no dialogue between the engineers and enter the embankments at some favourable of flooding, the spots to which the family the people. point downstream and the embankment and the cattle would move. In case of If proper drainage facility is not pro- there prevents the water from entering into natural floods, the people had the time to vided, which is what happening at the it. The embankment will breach here on react while the flood control measures moment, and if the structures like the its own or else, the people living on the have instilled a false sense of security in embankments are intact, there will be countryside of the embankment, will cut the affected population. The situation has ponding of water. If the structures breach, it. This happens quite often It is essential, become very unpredictable because of the there is bound to be devastation. One has therefore, to study very carefully the his- frequent breaches in structures and acute to choose between devastation and the tory and sequence of events of failure of waterlogging. smooth drainage. Till such time the entire any embankment to know the events that Natural floods are possible only if the flood policy is reviewed, the following may follow. There is a possibility of natural drainage mechanisms are not tam- steps can ease the situation. multiple breaches in the embankments, pered with, which would mean that no The first thought that comes to the mind just as it happens in case of the Kamala obstruction has been put to the flow path is that breaches in the embankments should every year below Jhanjharpur, in the of water. This also means that the struc- not occur and that requires their careful Madhubani district; or along the Gandak tures like embankments, roads, railway maintenance. This primarily, is the job of in west Champaran. The Pipra-Piparasi lines and canals, etc, are not built and the the concerned departments. There is a embankment on the western embankment flood plains are not encroached upon. This dichotomy here. If the embankments are of the Gandak, forming boundary between may not be possible because it is difficult firm and if we are recommending them to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, is one of the most to imagine life without proper means of remain firm, the life of the people living fragile embankments and breaches at slight- communication. But it is always possible within the embankments will be at stake est pretext. Their combined effect may be to provide for the smooth drainage through and their lot can improve only if it breaches. even more devastating and this could be

Economic and Political Weekly July 21, 2001 2759 predetermined if the inundation mapping relatives and neighbours are the first and much of money every year on relief and is carried out. the only ones to extend a helping hand at whether there is any end to it. Organisations In case of a breach in the embankment, this hour of the crisis and their role is very often expand their establishment and the water from within the embankments important at this stage. perpetuating relief programmes becomes recedes very fast and the life there comes Vidur, in Mahabharata, has said that a their necessity rather than those of the to a standstill. Almost all the boats that are person should do all the things during the victims. The net result of this exercise is away from the main courses of the streams day time so that he gets a good sleep in that the organisations forgo their own get stuck in mud and communication suffers the night. And one must do all the things ideals and their workers are reduced to badly. It is always easier to use a boat than during the eight months of the year so as mere relief managers. The same thing to wade through the mud. In case of a to live peacefully during the four months applies to most of the donor agencies breach, the plight of those living inside the of the rainy season. To prepare for the rains also. It is easier for these organisations to embankments is often forgotten. is not a job of a month or a fortnight; it raise passions among their donors by However, if the inundation maps could must run through the year. External agen- narrating harrowing tales of a disaster and be prepared, there will be less mismanage- cies that come to the affected areas to collect contributions relatively easily. It is ment in relief administration and the extend a helping hand are always in a hurry not very easy for these organisations to chances of corruption also will reduce. to teach the communities disaster prepared- raise funds for normal developmental The problem is so vast and widespread that ness/management first and learn anything programme or the long-term issues haunt- the only institution that comes to the mind from them later, if at all. It is rare that ing the people. is the government, as no other agency has somebody has lived with the community Relief however, is a political weapon the resources, humanpower, information during a period starting much before the and is a double-edged sword. It is a po- or the expertise to carry out the job. The flood and continued to live with them till litical weapon because by running relief government’s role in coordinating relief everything returns to normal and then talk operations, those who are favourable can operations can hardly be emphasised be- of the coping mechanism or disaster pre- be obliged and by not running relief, the cause not only it possesses the informa- paredness. opponents can be punished. At the time tion; it possesses the authority too. The All these efforts will go to waste, if of elections both these commissions and CBOs the NGOs and common people not supported by a well-built system of omissions can be encashed. People be- can make use of the information as the warning about the possible flood or a come dependant on relief and that alone inundation maps can be used by anybody. breach. The use of electronic media, the becomes their aspiration. It suits politi- The task may be easier in the states where TV and the radio, is of immense impor- cians that the people are dependent on the panchayati raj institution exists and tance and loudspeakers have also been them. It is a double-edged sword because the participation of such institutions used for flashing messages. A number of a well managed relief programme post- must be ensured in the management of temples and mosques have loudspeakers pones the debate about a possible solution the crisis. installed in them and one can influence the much farther and if it is badly managed, When the flood waters strike without priests or the imams to issue warning in it diverts the debate to the discrepancies much of prior information then the first emergencies. in distribution of the relief items. The real thing that a householder has to do is to When the flood victims become acces- issues are relegated to background in move his family and the cattle to some sible, lot of interventions is possible. A either case. The debate does not go beyond safer place and then arrange immediately host of NGOs, with vast experience in the polythene sheets, ration, salt, candles the essential commodities like food and dealing with emergencies, come forward and match-boxes, while the engineers strive some roofing cover. Food will be needed to extend a helping hand. Their interven- hard to escape the blame of any flood immediately and within hours of shifting, tion may range from feeding programme related accident. Both often succeed be- protection against rains will have to be to distribution of clothes, utensils, medi- cause the issue is live only for three months, ensured because it is not possible to remain cines, fodder and temporary house build- beyond, which even the flood victims do in open for a long time. ing materials, health programme, etc. not want to discuss it anymore, because Outside help reaches rarely in this stage Rehabilitation of village artisans, inputs to it is the sustenance, and not the flood that of the calamity because in the given situ- restore agriculture and economic rehabili- is of immediate interest to them. Unless ation inaccessibility works both ways. tation of petty traders, supporting fisher- the flood issue is allowed to come out of During the floods of 1987 and 1998 in men are some of the other packages that the boundaries of salt, candles, and match- Bihar, many family members of the flood such agencies offer to the victims of the boxes or at best, the inquiry committee victims came to visit their dear ones from disaster. reports which are rarely made public, no outside and got stranded at stations like Then there is the great housing debate fruitful result can be expected. Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Khagaria and – whether or not to intervene in the housing Food and shelter are the two major basic Katihar and had to return. Beldaur block programme as a post-disaster measure. needs of the people, which get destroyed of Khagaria district could be accessed only Many agencies take up the housing during the floods, and chances of produc- in the month of October during the floods programme following any disaster and after ing grains recede till the next crop season. of 1987, after a gap of about two months. they leave, the site becomes a museum of A report of Water Resource Department It is essential, therefore to be prepared to a sort of all kinds of building materials, of Bihar suggests that floods affect 76 per meet any eventuality. This preparation can building techniques, housing forms and cent of total area of north Bihar. Also, be effective and sustainable only if it is architectural fantasies. Everything related some 87 per cent population of north Bihar based on the local resources, ideas and to a building programme exists there except makes its living from agriculture (1991 virtues and the lifestyle. This should be an the occupants. census). Some six million people of north internal arrangement of the society be- The most unfortunate part of this con- Bihar face the fury of waterlogging on a cause it is the local people who understand tinuing relief work is that nobody ever permanent basis. The situation demands their needs and the resources best. Friends, questions as to why one should spend so serious and urgent action. The government

2760 Economic and Political Weekly July 21, 2001 has refused to think any further because ready-to-eat variety, so useful at the time The concept of living with the floods is it believes firmly that the flood problem of floods. The people in these zones are yet to develop and no serious work has of downstream can be solved if, and only known for making good pickles and know been done so far in the modern societies. if, the rivers debauching into the plains the art of drying and preserving the veg- All our efforts should be diverted towards from hills are dammed. As expected, these etables for rainy days when vegetables are making the floods bearable and attempts views are shared by majority of the people. not available. As for nature, it is so kind should be made to convert the water, which If we forget about the dams in Nepal for a to the people that when vegetables are not has become a liability, into an asset. Let while, the proposed dams in the north-east available during the rainy season, the fishes us decide honestly what is feasible and need no negotiations with anybody and yet swim to the houses of the flood victims. what is not. It should also be remembered there is no progress. Nobody knows when Their ways of living with floods are yet that the engineers design a structure for these dams will be built. The carrot of dams to be documented and this alone will unfold 25, 50 or a maximum of 100 years cycle are, however, dangled before the people. the mysteries of the hitherto unheard of and, according to them, the calamity for Have we ever thought what is the amount flood coping mechanisms. which the structure has been designed, or of money that will be needed to construct A dialogue is needed to be taken up at even worse than that, might hit tomorrow. a hut of 3m x 4m size that is washed away all the possible levels, i e, at the level of That puts a severe restriction on the struc- annually during the floods? Just to retain the common persons, the village level tural solutions of controlling floods. The a thatched roof over the head of a family, workers, the engineers, the bureaucrats, design specifications of the structures, as an able-bodied person within the family and the politicians. Needless to say that a rule, come for discussion only after the will have to look for employment in some it is very difficult to educate the educated. calamity has struck. town and all his savings will be spent on Moreover engineers are slightly on the The process of ‘living with floods’ is keeping this enclosure in place. If the family defensive these days because of all possible only in a decentralised manner. possesses an acre of the land, then to meet they had said so boldly proposed until a Says Guru Das Agrawal, “...I would like the expenses of the agriculture, another few years ago, does not seem to be to say that the government should not be member of the family will have to sleep working and, at least, the stated objec- permitted to touch the water resources of on the pavements elsewhere. That explains tives of the projects have not been met the people. It should not have anything to the mass exodus of labour that takes place in most cases. do with irrigation or flood control nor it from north Bihar every year and no amount There is a need to remember that ill- should be involved in any other kind of of relief distribution or disaster manage- iteracy rate is very high among the target water management. The people should ment can solve this problem. Do we have population and print media loses its mean- manage the water resources directly, through the courage of evaluating honestly our ing with the majority. Some section of the gram panchayat, regional panchayats or, water development projects in the wake of population can be reached through ver- at best, through district panchayats. The their stated objectives, time frame and nacular and only a very small fraction government could give technical advise or costs? Curiously enough, such reports are through English. When it comes to edu- financial resources, on demand, but the prepared every year by the concerned cating masses over the issue, all the forms entire responsibility should be with the departments but never made public. of communication will have to be tapped concerned society’ [Agarwal 1997]. Hallet (1937), when he was the governor and that, surely, is a tall order. The time We cannot continue with the wrong of the Bihar, had made suggestions in the has now come to this job on a priority policies of flood control and expect people Patna Flood Conference about educating basis. The initiative should come from the to live with it. It also does not help people the masses about the floods. He, along government and there is nothing wrong in if we rename ‘flood control’ as ‘flood with the then chief engineer of Bihar, telling people that the floods cannot and management’ and continue with the old G F Hall, was of the opinion that the so- should be controlled. Should that happen, programmes. ‘Living with floods’ never lution to the flood problem of the state lay the governments would not have to take means leaving the rivers totally to their in removing all the impediments in the the obligations of rats, foxes and muskrats own devices but it means a bare minimum flow path of floodwater and not construct- or the ‘anti-social elements’ for passing interference with the working of the ing embankments along the rivers. This the blame of floods. It will not have to nature. Unless a comprehensive and a well would obstruct the flow. Both of them blame Nepal for causing floods in the thought out approach is adopted for floods, called it undesirable to control floods and plains nor will it have to blame the centre the victims will continue to live, not with maintained that, “...To continue as at for the debacle. floods but the politics of it. EPW present is merely to pile up a debt which The people are also entitled to know the have to be paid, in distress and calamity, possible consequences of any project References at the end.” because these are made for them and by ADAB (1998): Fact Sheet No 1, September 3, This awareness campaign has to be their resources. Let the people decide what Association of Development Agencies in preceded by committed action research they want. CBOs and the concerned public Bangladesh, pp 3. concerning all the aspect of floods, irri- can take the message to the masses. If the Agrawal, G D (1997): Proceedings of the Second gation and power production. An in-depth people take the initiative, there is always Delegates Conference April 5-6 at Nirmali, study will have to be made into the coping an apprehension that the government will Barh Mukti Abhiyan, Bihar. Darbhanga Raj (1902): Report of the First mechanism of the flood victims. Let us take it up as a prestige issue and that would Irrigation Commission, Part II, pp 165-67, take the food habit of the people, for lead to unnecessary confrontations and report of the interview of R S King, example, in the flood-affected areas. It is As regards politicians, unless their Manager, Darbhanga Raj on October 30, 1902, an indicator of their coping mechanism. tenure improves, not much can be expec- pp 216 (Appendix)). ‘Sattu’ (ground roasted horse gram) and ted of them. At the same time it should Saran, S et al (1998): Farming Systems and Development in Flood Prone Basins. ‘chura’ (flattened rice) are popular foods not be forgotten that they are the decision- Willcocks, Sir William (1930): Lectures on the in north Bihar and although many dishes makers and raising their awareness level Ancient System of Irrigation in Bengal, can be made out of these, both are of the will benefit the society in the long run. University of Calcutta, pp 29-70.

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