Floods in south India and in Mithila

Floods in south India and in Mithila

Yesterday night(4th October 2009) I had a long telephonic talk with Dinesh K. Mishra on the matter of floods in south India for which he did not spoke much for want to data.

However Mithila ravaged perineally with floods has peers-Gujarat almost every year and northern Karnataka and eastern AP which are not due to ice melting glaciers of Himalyas but due to maybe de-silting and deforestation.

Another point is sure that now inter linking of river Ganga cauvery is hardly of any relevance. Post-Vajpayee in Rahul-proxy era when rahul had said no to it ,it has hardly any taker.

Yet I feel someone should come up with a comprehensive flood studies of country.

Dineshji mentined one name(I forgot) who has compiles such data of 100 years.

Dr.R.K.Misra, ex-director, BAU,Kanke mentined me some Chaudhari’s work on inter linking o frivers.

Initially I was enthusiastic to that but reading an article in the journal of ciast accountants, I felt it was taxing to north and my letter to that notion had appeared in The Hindu while I was in Bangalore.

Some months back ex-President APJ Kalam was at Ranchi and had asked same question as he was an advocate of linking of rivers but he too replied in non-committal way as to what wuld happen for lakhs of tribals when the routes of rivers will be changed.

My concern with floods in Mithila is that with four way lane coming up and broad guage with no adequate drainage, these will make floods worse.

A villager of Sijhuliya Dhairyanarayan Jha said that though high bridges were made at hs village no one bothered to ask local persons who could have said that there area was near flooded in the memory of 100 years and high bridge there was unnecessary.

Maybe engineers have missed some other points where it would have been necessary and if they supposed to provide drainage on fixed imaginary distances will it result in flood waters to take some course ruining many villages.

Dineshji is an expert to it and it is always delightful to talk to him though I know my limitation of knowledge on such issues being a doctor.

Dineshji was leaving to Guwahati with a group of some young persons from Koshi-Kamla flood belt to study the life style of the people of that area how they could live with floods.

I feel strongly Maithils should learn to live with floods than making embankments which are destined to be broken a day or other.

Inter-linking may be done of some selected portion but ambitious Ganaga cauvery may be dismissed.