kosi : a himalayan blunder

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Dear Chairman
SrnceI do not subscribeto Hindustan Times the request for submissionsto the KosiFlood
lnquiry Commissionescaped by notice. However,my old friend Himanshu Thakkar'semail intimationgave me this opportunity. I have worked as a groundwater/ environmental
geologistin Bihar for for more than ten years from 1957 onwards and remainedin charge
of GS/'s Drought work in Bihar during in 1965-66( Hope I have the years correctly!
SrnceI don't have time enough , I am fonaardingan afticle of mine that was publishedin
"RearWindow"of The Sundaylndian ( Atn-14th.Sept.'1|)( basedon an interuiew)I
I shallremain gratefulif this alsoconsideredas a feedback.
TSI
Flo o dF u r y :
BLUNDER
KOSI: A HIMALAYAN
Tamperingwith Himalaya,makingdams and roadswill causemajorfloodsin the future
E
/irl
. **Su b r a ta
Sinha
I
Peopleare
The entireKosiflood issuehas been understoodin the wrongperspective.
blamingriverslike Kosiand Teesta,but it is not the riversthat havegone haywireand
disaster.The primesourceof the problemlies in
and foreseeable
causedthis preventable
play
the fool with the Himalayas,it will hit back.
the Himalayamountainchain.lf we
basin:the
Tamperingwith the Himalayaaffectseverythingin the Indo-Ganga-Brahmaputra
bul ko f o u r s u b -co n ti n e n t.
The governmenthas damagedthe Himalayaeverywhere.Dams,borderroads...wherever
you haveborderroads,thereare landslidesbelowthat.Theselandslidesin turn raisethe
floodsin the valleys.Yet, thereare lotsof
riverbedsby silt deposition,causingdevastating
to Arunachal,including
existingand proposeddams and Hydelprojectsfrom Uttaranchal
in
Arunachal
Pradesh,despitelocal
Sikkim,and colossaldams are also underconstruction
resistance.
l..l:i:till::vlltl'1ill,yill:rl;*!;1*]]Ii|l11ii.li'J]!*].f.:.j|.liii:iii:l,-rlliLt:lltl.||lr:..vilid'
iill;ill1r.:l;irlqjl.ii|r*Ll*)lli:l.l;:;:l:;:.i'::ri1!llit-;:ll:l-':l..:i.ilrli:l':1*|r'ripilrc.lrt.rl*|ayanChain.ate,hrlg|
,jrt|tli:ltl;l!1.i;t:;:1l.iliiiii:l;:,.;i1..ir]]:l'li:li*;ttll.;l,iiil.}':i.:1rlrl:l;li|i;i,.;i;ld*;it0NV!y&nm
pr*ns ta innunefablg
i*ini:ils ,r\rijthl* if-i*ii*i* t*r;ii:rrr:nilv
*r *xilerr:*lys*n*itivesystenn,
q ) , l l l r l ; : : : A :* 1
-'. i,,.
r l l : : r - j 1, . . ; l i, ; ' 1 , . . ; S i l t t r f l l J
and
Thesemountainsare basicallysedimentsthat were folded,crumpled,metamorphosed
Deccan
Plateau
and
the
between
the
when
squeezed
heavedup from the TethysSea,
ar e fr agileand highlyer osion
A s i a nm a i n l a n dT. h u sth e ro ckyma te rialin thesem ountains
p ro n e .M a y I c orn p a reth e H i ma l a yaw i tha hum anhead,and any inter fer ence
akinto a
paralyses
has
a
huge
river
the
country
too
thrombosis
the entirebody.Likethe body,
?nopop
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t6-03-2009
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networklikethe veinsand arleries,and a 'thrombosis'
affectsthe entirecountry.
'll:*r*r::r'r*f.riri*r:r
t"]f i*i'li'lritiirffiiay* ir, l:il *r"r**nilyhy il giganticmonsoon,which no othef,hlgh
r:r***tnin *n3'wh*r*r*i** si";ff*f* li ;s a bim**al *y*t*nr: it poursfor twp rnonthsand the {egl
*fth*y*elli*ft.hi;;I*nr*i*ry,,}lt*r*}}y'fh*r*igmngsivser0$|aLduflngM
f*rg*t that *r*sj*n h*pp*l"isth* y**r r"*und.h*enu*ethe sleqpslopesof the mountainsare
dry *ncl ****r:rc l**s*" iilh*n th* n*xt r*in* r*me. ihese dqpositsacrc$$sameatlhq
g*filt*$*r rrvL:i*ts
iur;:i:l*d*'.vn,l,vtlfr
d*v**l*tir"ig**nseEUences.
Thereis anothermajormisconception.
Peopleneedto underqtand
that riversll
and Kosiare partof the same integratedsystem,with a huge,connectedalluvialbas-in.lt is
not as if the riversare completelycut off from each other,So any actionon ArcjXqpgglelhe
other,but few realisethis singularpoint.Then there are the qven rnO{Cl
dengercU$
embankments.
The Kosiflood happenedwhen such an embenkmenl1y-as
burstby surging
waters.Embankments
interferewith the naturalplaygroundof the mightyrivers.!n betrryeqn
any two embankments,
thereis silt deposition,
whichraiseslhe fryef !eg!q,so the nexttime
duringmon$oon,the chancesgo up of a moredevastating
plgyiousones.We
flqad_than
haverepeatedly
warnedthe governments.
I did so as Director,Land Usjl Boardin West
Ben g abl u tt o n o a va i l .
One must understandalso that water finds its own course;it ig€ ja$fe{rucjple AtXatUe.
Humanshave to live with it The latestreportis that the Koslfloqdlvatefghqvelaundlhetl
way intothe Gangathrougha new channel.Thatwill tremendously
increasethe flow in
Gangaas well as Hooghlyrivers.As its stands,overlandflow duringthe monsoongoes into
the ocean.I apprehendthat the entireRajarhatindustrialbeltwill act as a wall and forcethe
flowfrom up the valleyinto Bangladeshand Kolkata.SimilarlySingurand its adjoining
industrial
spreadshallcompelthe Hooghlyand otherriversto changecourse.Another
Teesta-Kosi
situationmay be triggeredthen.Thereare floodsin the northeastnow.The
additional
dangerthere is, beingin the foothillsof the Himalaya,most of the erosionleaves
behindcoarsesediments- pebblesand bouldersraisingthe riverbeds even higher,and
alsoincreasing
the forceof the water.Besides,recentlystartedsurfacewaterirrigationin
areaswith massiveunconfinedaquiferswill leadto permanently
waterlogging.
ilri ihr:vrr>:
*l rr fli. ijlel{j rii i:lai:{i
brrrrgl:r:ilit::Arurrrchall-rrallesh,
nearthe syqtqlig!bendol$elllfflglgyqs.
"tr**r"s
h** h**n n* *xt**:rr:ph!* *:nrth*uxk*in th* !*{imalaynn
mqq1tAlnbellfot decades;
!:ui s*rrcr*i*f l****r t*l*nsityh** **;:p*r:**. &llnnystinntistfeel that the s*isrnicgap:lhe
r*';i*itir:gi11n
*l* *pi**ntre iS 1QV-V,Sle$lng.
!i**r$ **tv;**r"lii fr',rl:,:;''1r'.f1,;,r.:i'r
llthe "big
":,.:n.+".,1,..rjlrast*r,S*in th*r* a g*lutioIl Yes: gA }aqklA nqlg1e.
*:ln;" {:ilfJ-r**.
lli*l ,ri'i,"{
li*vrv* ih* *g*-*ir:ix;ll**lti;r*l liv*lif:*** *y*i*nr r,viri*hsaluteghQl&ei* qWfilhfnlfnqAnd
*cirnv*s n*l*ttltrr; t* h*r wlsh**. lJp in lfi* i-'{irnalay;},
g* for extensivewatershed
rnfril;i!}*flr*rt*yst*n:* xt th* p**pl*'* **;al*. not g*vcrnmcnlAlqg_ale-fhig
will completely
*h*ng* th* ***r;af .{.,;Jli-] vfiLlt* l:1,:*iljv*tijtnarcund.
*"
l'$1fi:*r ill-1fi riSi
Wi;r;iis*tr*nri:*t *{ [,4]*]ilF- ilnv. &pp.il*n:n":itt**sf*r Rivcr valley& Hydel Projects
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ail.nic.in/uwc/webmai
l/popup.htn-rl
?nopop
16-03-2009