Living with Floods Cane Understands the Times and Behaves Accordingly; It Is Always in Our Grip and Never Misbehaves with Us
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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.