Environment and Sustainable development: Improving Systems Performance Floods in Kosi • Failure of – Programme – Policy – Implementation of program – Monitoring Flood 2008 - Impact • The flood killed close to 1000 people and forced nearly 30 lakh people from their homes in Bihar. No cattle dead, main economic soruce of livelihood, not known. • Widespread disease and fear of epidemic • More than 300,000 houses were destroyed and at least 340,000 hectares (840,000 acres) of crops were damaged. • Crops worth over Rs.1.5 billion damaged and destroyed. 2008 Floods – Response • National Disaster Declared • Government announced USD 230 million • Announced construction of hazard safe houses for 100,000 families. • World Bank Supported the above program with USD 220 million commitment. • Chief minister asked for 145 billion rehabilitation package. • Instituted inquiry commission under Justice Walia • OUTCOME: • Out of a total 100,000 houses to be constructed by the Government in the Kosi region comprising Madhepura, Saharsa and Supaul districts, only 12,500 were erected till February 2014. • Justice Walia commission report tabled in 2014 (after FIVE YEARS) identified administrative failure and holds government responsible. Who’s at fault? • KOSI for being the way it is – Bihar’s Sorrow • Government – national, state, local, etc. • Zero accountability – authoriies responsible for it go left untouched. • Lack of preparedness • Lack of communication to the downstream population at the time of the embankment breach • Corruption – poor quality material used in construction of barrages/dams and poor upkeep. • Zero value of human life..that sustains CHALTA HAI ATTITUDE – Almost always last minute response. • Who else………God?? Nature’s Fury or Man made Disaster? • Kosi is named as Sorrow of Bihar!! • Since 1963, Kosi has breached 7 times and 2008 at kusaha was its 8th and most impactful. • All the earlier breaches had occurred downstream of the barrage. But this year the breach happened upstream of the barrage and the flow was less than what normally is during floods. • The Kosi has an annual silt load of 94,400 acre feet. The embankment, which was build to hold 0.95 million cusecs of water, gave way when water was less than 0.14 million cusecs • The day the breach occurred, the water in the Kosi was 0.134 million cusecs at the breach point, while usually the river has 0.4 million cusecs during floods Let’s meet KOSI Some Info about KOSI • Kosi flows between the boundary of Nepal and India. It origninates in Nepal • It is the largest tributaries of Ganga. The river along with its eight tributaries drains an area of 69,300 sq km before it meets ganga. • The Kosi river has an exceptionally high sediment yield of 0.43 milliontines/year/km2 which is accommodated in a very narrow alluvial plains, almost one-fifth of the upland area. • It shows evidence of lateral channel shifting exceeding 120 km (75 mi) during the past 250 years, via at least twelve major channels. The river, which flowed near Purnea in the 18th century, now flows west of Saharsa. • River gradient ranges from more than 10 meters/km for major upper tributaries in the mountains to as little as 6 cm/km as the lower Kosi nears the Ganga. Info Cond…. • The Kosi alluvial fan is one of the largest in the world, covering some 15,000 km² and extending 180 km from the outermost foothills of the Himalayas to the Ganga river valley. • Flood waters naturally spread out over the surface of this cone. Flows over 25,000 m³/s have been measured where the Kosi exits the Himalayan foothills, enough to create a flow of water 30 km wide. At this rate, in one week enough water would accumulate to cover the entire megafan to a depth of 1.5 meters. why it happened? • Embankments are the culprits. What we think is a solution has turned to be the problem. • The use of embankments to contain the Kosi has prevented it from spreading its silt load of 92.5 million cubic metres. • It has resulted in raising the river bed by four metres and prevented adjoining channels from draining into the river and caused permanent waterlogging in an 8360 sq km area. • As a result, one million people in 380 villages face flood fury every year and eight million are waterlogged. • Embankments in fact have increased the area prone to flooding from 2.5 million hectares in the 1950s to 6.8 million hectares Possible Alternates • Building additional dams in Nepal • Extensive soil erosion and • Increase the capacity of existing landslides in its upper catchment Dams? have produced a silt yield of about • Build more embankments 19 m³/ha/year (10 cu yd/acre/yr), downstream one of the highest in the world. • Building diversion channels • In 1962, when Bihar had 160 downstream to divert extra water? kilometres of embankments the flood-prone area was 2.5 million ha. In 2002, it had 3,340 km embankments and 6.9 million ha of flood-prone area. • Embanking the Kosi has led to a rise of 2 m in its bed in the lower reaches within 30 years of embankment construction. • Building a dam in Nepal is not a solution because constructing it will take 20 years and the huge silt load will leave it choked in no time. Alternates Contd… • After the Floods, work begun to repair the breach and bring the river back to its "old" route, within the embankment. But can it be done? What is the larger picture here? • Kosi has been changing course since 1736 and has moved westward by 120 km. Additionally, due to higher silt and sediment load, the river will continue to change its course. Possible Alternates • Since, Kosi has decisively changed course there is a good opportunity to apply ecologically sound practices such as allowing the river to flow freely. • What does this entail? Benefits of the new approach • Let the river flow in the new direction depositing silt on its course • Understanding the river behavior ( which is flowing for almost 200,000 years) and to apply this knowledge in the context of human settlements. • With the embankments gone, the Kosi can connect once again with natural drainage channels. • Silt through distribution will enrich the soil. The river can thus become the driver of a water-based economy in which surpluses are put to use to intensive agriculture. • Not long time ago, this is how the life was in North Bihar. Water culture of North Bihar knew how to live with its floods. It did not try to hold its rivers, rather wove around them a life of boats and fisheries and suitable crops. • Water based economy will trigger innovative and appropriate solutions for local needs. Benefits of the new approach • Engineering solutions to tame rivers have deprived north Bihar of the most fertile lands in the world, turning it from the cradle of civilization to one of the poorest regions of India Way forward for Auditors • Will building additional dams and barrages will do any good? • Major incremental costs and longer timelines for building new dams • Permanently altering topography putting a large landmass under risk of flooding • C/B Analysis Yamuna in Delhi • Failure of – Programme – Policy – Implementation of program – Monitoring Some Info • Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of 6,387 metres on the south western slopes of Banderpooch peaks in the uppermost region of the Lower Himalayas in Uttarakhand, it travels a total length of 1,376 kilometers (855 mi) and has a drainage system of 366,223 square kilometres (141,399 sq mi), 40.2% of the entire Ganges Basin, before merging with the Ganges at Triveni Sangam, Allahabad • Nearly 57 million people depend on the Yamuna waters. With an annual flow of about 10,000 cubic billion metres (cbm) and usage of 4,400 cbm (of which irrigation constitutes 96 per cent), the river accounts for more than 70 per cent of Delhi’s water supplies. • A stretch of around 22 km in Delhi contributes 70 per cent of the total pollution load of the river. Some Info • The government has so far spent over Rs. 5,500 crore on cleaning the river as part of Yamuna Action Plan. Many sewage treatment plants have been set up including 17 in Delhi. But these plants can only treat less than half the total waste pumped in each day. • As per the Delhi Jal Board, which is responsible for managing the city’s sewage, 680 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage is produced, while its treatment capacity is 594.72 MGD. However, DJB is able to utilize only 60% of the capacity, letting millions of Gallons flow untreated sewage in Yamuna through 19 canals. • Delhi Fresh Water Supply - Raw water is being made available to Delhi from Ganga River (240 MGD), Yamuna River (310 MGD), Bhakhra Beas Management Board (140 MGD). About 115 MGD of ground water is being explored through Ranney Wells and Tube Wells of Delhi Jal Board. Some Info • Delhi requires close to 4200 Million Liters (ML) every day, while it gets supplied only 3200 ML from all the sources. Delhi loses more than 40 percent of the its water due to leakages from its network of water supply pipelines. Thus, the city effectively ends up with just 1900 ML of water every day for a population of more than 160 lakhs, providing just 120 liters of water on an average for a person. Future Plan • The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) 2031 sewerage master plan envisages Rs. 25,000 crore to be spent to upgrade the sewerage network • New reservoirs planned are: Renuka Dam on River Giri, a tributary of Yamuna in Sirmaur District of Himachal Pradesh, Kishau Dam on river Tons, also a tributary of Yamuna river in Uttrakhand and Lakhwar- Vyasi Dam on river Yamuna near Lakhwar village in District Dehradun of Uttrakhand • 2 More dams planned in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand Sustainable Alternates • Immediate and necessary step: Fixing the leaky supply lines could augment the supply by almost 40%.