[Assam] [WaterWatch] Negative impact of flood control embankments

[mc mahant]

The same heart-rending scenario goes on unabated here in Assam too since 1950.
The same "National Embankment Policy--and massive Loans-- to Dig your own graves
 
GFCC in Bihar..Brahmaputra Board here in Assam-- with ludicrous arrangements--the  vote of  the 13 Board members-including from Mizoram ,Tripura ,Sikkim  has same weightage as that of the lone member from Assam!
 
Chest Beating Won't help. You cannot beat a dead horse. India's National Embankment Policy   IS India's  greatest Non-Science after AryaBhatta
 
What we need is going back to basics  -Csezy's law. Never taught well  in 1st year hydraulics.
And better understanding of Soils,Humus,Humification  water,moisture--->>>   crop yield.
 
No earthly reason why Biharis  should be Rail Mantris and Bhaiyaa Doodhwallahs in hostile Mumbai  or  must  travel  jampacked in Shramjeevi Expresses or Ghariv Raths to slave in Punjab.
 
Practice   Fundamentals of  Science!
mm
 


To: WaterWatch at yahoogroups.comFrom: alakhnarayan at gmail.comDate: Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:20:57 +0000Subject: [WaterWatch] Negative impact of flood control embankments




Negative impact of flood control embankmentsThe technocentric assumption that acts as a rationale for embankments is guided by an application of ‘normal science’ of hydraulic engineering, through various channel improvement methods (such as river straightening, dredging and snugging) the swing of the floodwater can be controlled.The Kosi river has shifted westwards by 160 km over the past 250 years. It is this meandering nature of the river systems that has the maximum available energy producing currents and should be more of concern for river basin management, especially for flood control. This natural tendency to meander and sinuosity of this river system disproves the traditional ‘steady-state’ equilibrium approach of the engineers and calls for a comprehensive assessment of the river system. Embankments have arrested the natural fertilisation of the flood plain and deprived the people who depend on these fertilesoils for livelihood. Further, embankments provided a false sense of security to the increasing population to settle down along the embankments. The Ganga Flood Control Board was set up in 1972 by a resolution of Government of India. The Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC) was set up as per Clause 5 of the resolution to undertake specific works in the Ganga Basin and for assisting the Ganga Flood Control Boards. The GFCC is expected to prepare master plan of the basin to deal with problems emerging from flood erosion and waterlogging in the region. The implementation of these will be carried out by the appropriate riparian state. A chairman appointed by the Government of India (GOI) heads the Commission. GOI also appoints two full time members. Basin states appoint part time members of the commission.It is clear from the origin, functions and constitution of these institutions that they are all structured for planning, design and implementation of large projects. It is also clear that they do not even intend to be participation oriented or open bodies. These institutions have failed to encompass the needs, resources and priorities of whole river basin. The failures are largely guided by technocentric approach that have misunderstood the river systemsand communities as being stable and that they are liable to be controlled for development.Large-scale storage structures impound and divert river water are justified on the basis that floods are caused due to upstream catchment. Therefore, controlling this catchment water through large dams will reduce flooding in the downstream, the stored water can be utilised to generate power and for irrigation in the flood plains. First and foremost is the assumption that floods are caused from upstream catchment. The technocrats fail to recognise the existence of larger catchment in the lower part of the basin, which is also capable of flooding. The Bihar State has built about 3465 kms of embankments along its rivers till 1998 (only 160 km in 1952) and a sum of Rs 7.46 billion have been spent till 1998. However, these embankments have only had negative impact.The embankment tries to arrest the natural dispersion of sediment on the floodplains, thereby increasing deposition, raising the level of riverbed and later breaking of embankments, causing floods and waterlogging. The flood prone area in Bihar has increased from 25 lakh hectares in 1952 to 68.9 hectares in 1998. Who will diagnose the problem of this huge increase in the flood prone area? How to arrest the increase in flood prone area?Human displacement and migration in Bihar is worse than any other known displacements in India/South Asia. Who is responsible for it?Who should be held accountable for failure and who should be made liable for past failures?__._,_.___ 
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