08-26-2008, 07:51 AM (This post was last modified: 09-21-2008, 07:44 PM by Capt M Kumar.)
Kosi may wipe out 2 districts in Bihar
26 Aug, 2008, 0416 hrs IST,Ashok K Mishra, ET Bureau
BIHARâs sorrow, the Kosi, has changed its course near Kusaha village in Nepal for the first time in the last 50 years after breaching the East Kosi afflux embankment threatening millions of lives. Over 12 lakh people are trapped between the old and the new streams of the river leading to plans for unprecendented evacuation effort in the northern part of the state.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar has appealed to the people of the twin districts of Madhepura and Supaul, that may be wiped off the map, to abandon houses and find shelter in relief camps.
NEW DELHI: The fury of Kosi, which struck east Bihar with a vengeance last Monday, may trigger one of the world's biggest human evacuations ever. The exodus should continue over the next several weeks with the scared population spread over six districts finally veering round to timely escape as the only option.
By now, almost one lakh marooned people have moved to safe highlands, bulk of them by government boats and many on their own. The reluctant trickle is now taking the shape of a torrent after an emotional appeal by chief minister Nitish Kumar, urging people to cut their losses and leave with their cattle.
This is too sad that we all missied this very important disaster that happened to Bihar. Half of Bihar under floods.
Floods are so common and hence we all thought that it is just another yer but the river Koshi changed its cource to the one that existed 200 years ago. This means that there are several villages in Bihar and Nepal that will not be there anymore on the map.
Someone from Bihar should help all of us to learn regarding the geography and history of this area.
This is truely a real tragedy that is more than a Tsunami or a Gujarat earthquake. The media woke up so late. It is true that God is only with wealthy and not with poorest.
For those who have never experienced floods in their lives, it is simply a picture of a few turfs of land surrounded by water, people rowing boats in small by lanes or a few dead carcasses of cattle floating in water. But the horror of a flood cannot be captured in a few snapshots.
When a huge mass of water comes rolling down in the dead of night into a sleeping village and within minutes the breadths of clueless, unsuspecting people are choked with cold liquid, when thousands lose their homes, their crops, to rot in floodwaters and spend nights under a pouring merciless sky without food, shelter or solace, for once death through sudden approaching lava of some malignant volcano seems simple. Pompei had to suffer the wrath of Vesuvius once, but Bihar undergoes the terror witnessed by Pompei every year.
The state, after its partition in 2000 was left without all but huge riverbanks, fertile lands and its share of perpetual wrath of massive rivers. Kosi, known to the world, as the sorrow of Bihar is a fast flowing antecedent river that collects water from mountains in Nepal and flows down into the plains, causing dangerous floods due to its perpetually shifting course. Due to its rapid flow it causes tremendous erosion and carries nearly 81 million tons of silt every year. This silt gets deposited around the river causing it to continuously shift its course.
<b>What went so wrong this time? </b>
<b>Harappa was wiped out because Indus sulked away from the flourishing civilization and North Bihar, God forbid may be destroyed because the mighty, turbulent Kosi has decided to change its course.</b> When Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his fear that this time what the river has unleashed is more than fury â and is actually a catastrophe, with consequences which may fearfully be more grave and serious â he was actually telling a rude truth in calculated terms.
Kosi the terror of North Bihar never ever lets people forget its presence and the people have learnt to live with its annual wrath. As soon as the floodwater recedes they forget their troubles and begin happily to sow on a land rich in organic minerals that yields bumper crops.
But what happened this time that the whole of North Bihar is on the verge of being submerged? The trouble began after a massive breach took place in the Kosi embankment in Kushana in Nepal on August 18. This 400-meter breach soon widened to 2 km allowing an enormous 13 km current of swollen Kosi to flow downstream, affecting nearly ten lakh people in Supaul, Basantpur, Pratapganj, Chattarpur, Triveniganj and Raghopur blocks. Ironically all these cities were flood safe earlier.
<b>The Kosi has a history of westward shift â from Purnea to Supaul from the past 300 years but this time the breach in the eastern afflux bund has caused the Kosi to move eastward resulting in inundation of hitherto safe areas.</b> Due to the heavy silt load, the river has been exerting pressure on its eastern side for the past 20 years. The bund-strengthening work has to be done every year to keep the river in check. But this year when the engineers began work, the Nepali locals drove them away within a week. When the situation became grave, the officials once again visited the danger zone, but had to come back amidst massive protests.
The result was this terrible devastation, which has now affected nearly 45 lakh people. More than 25 lakh people have taken shelter on higher areas such as railway tracks, canals and rooftops struggling for survival in the absence of adequate food and other basic amenities. These people need to be educated and rapidly moved to safer places, as this time the surging water may not spare even the highest of the lands. The Bihar government has already said it fears such an outcome.
<b>Why canât Kosi be tamed? </b>
Have any efforts been made so far to tame this mighty river, which has been the reason for devastation and catastrophe for centuries? No doubt several embankments have been built across it to check its unbridled surge but experts believe that even embankments allowed too much silt deposit along the shorter stretch of the river leading to more devastation.
Ever since India gained independence, the Center and state governments have been talking of a permanent solution to this problem but besides lip service and a few halfhearted measures, the trouble has remained unresolved. The Bhimnagar barrage in Nepal, built in 1956 has long exceeded its expiry period of 30 years. In the 20 years following its expiry, the Kosi has innumerable times unleashed its ire, by damaging the weak areas of the crumbling structure.
<b> Will North Bihar become another Dwarka? </b>
Northern Bihar, the victim of Kosiâs wrath is one of the poorest and the most backward regions of India. It has mud filled gutters as roads, kerosene lamps to light morbid evenings, rampant poverty and absolute lawlessness. And then Kosi, and flood and now this grim disaster! <b>Who will count the perished in this densely populated part of poor Bihar? </b>
The central and state governments, for the past 60 years have been giving false assurances to people without taking any concrete steps. We are planning a mission to moon, we have sent people to space, we invent, discover, we create and yet we cannot control a riverâs flow? Building dams in Nepal would be the best solution to the Kosi trouble but initiative will have to be taken by India, as Nepal will not really be interested because its countryside is relatively safe. As an immediate step Bihar should make attempts to plug in the breach in the barriers by stuffing them up with necessary materials, which can easily be procured from several flood prone European countries. The governments should take steps to restore the existing embankments and build new ones where required.
<b>Itâs true that even imagining that the entire North Bihar will be totally submerged in water and end up in history pages as a land lost to the ravages of nature is the height of pessimism in such modern times, but if the lazy, careless governments have allowed a river to become a willful aggressor in half a century, the time may not be far when the entire North Bihar will end up in a watery grave, sealing its history, its culture and the fate of its teeming millions with natureâs indurate, barbaric thumb. </b>
Guriya is not alone. "My co-villager Meena Devi gave birth to a child right beside the road to this relief camp," said Kunti Devi, a resident of Sonebarsa block. Angry villagers of Lagna panchayat blocked the road at Sonebarsa village refusing to allow boats being transported on trucks to proceed to Madhepura. "Women of our village are still trapped. We are demanding that they be first shifted to safer places," said Raj Kishore Yadav.
At Sour Bazar market, Sanjay Kumar, a college student, was distributing biscuits among the flood victims. People jostled against one another for a Rs 5 packet of biscuits. "Quite a large number of women arriving from flooded areas are expectant mothers," said Sanjay who has distributed 300 packets of biscuits during the last two days.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Flood of tears </b>
Pioneer.com
Amarnath Tewary | Patna
Lakhs are homeless, thousands traceless and many more far away from help. The devastating floods in northeastern Bihar has left 2,000 dead. Â
The turbulent Kosi, with its ceaseless current, has flooded everything earned and created by the local population. Murliganj, Uda Kishunganj, Kumarkhand, Narpatganj and Bihariganj are the most severely hit even though the official figures are yet to cross the three digit number.
About 10 lakh people in the district are hit and 380 villages inundated in the worst-ever deluge. With horror and tears in their eyes, the hapless travelers do not know where to go and how. In Madhuban and Luxmipur hundreds are trapped midstream crying for help. Incessant rain has compounded misery. The water level is increasing and people are fleeing in hordes with their cattle, bicycles and bags.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Where are international fund collectors that jostle over each other to help? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They are collecting for SIMI and other great causes. They are also missing from Wagah border candle light party. Now Dafur is bigger cause and more ways to build houses in Panchmari and Goa.
IDRF is facing legal problem, somebody tried to scam them.
Moron Singh government is sleeping because Laloo want to see destruction so that he can get sympathy vote, I wish river change its direction and move straight from Laloos living room. God never listens to me.
We should collect bangles, Heena and black color makeup for Moron Singh, he can use it every day. How about donkey ride attached with tin boxes?
08-31-2008, 02:57 PM (This post was last modified: 08-31-2008, 02:58 PM by Husky.)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->IDRF is facing legal problem, somebody tried to scam them.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Anything we can do to help them? (Help them so they can continue to help Hindus such as those affected by the Kosi catastrophe)
Yadav said people of India and Nepal should "move forward, respect each other and solve the problems faced by both the countries."
Asked about the Nepal army recruiting cadres from the People's Liberation Army of Maoists, he said, "it is a political and internal issue. I don't want to comment about it."
Gowda, who was instrumental in signing the Mahakali Treaty with Nepal during his tenure as PM, said both the countries should strengthen their ties in all sectors.
"Both India and Nepal should strengthen their ties and all problems should be sorted out amicably," he said.
Asked about his meeting with Yadav, Gowda said: "I discussed with him about his visit to India and his meeting with leaders here."
I think IDRF is still operational and collecting funds. Someone tell me if otherwise. For a long time a bunch of well organized anti-Hindu cabal's been trying to smear IDRFs reputation without much success.
Here is another 1:
URGENT APPEAL FOR BIHAR FLOODSâ
From: Rohit Singh (rohitgoonj1@gmail.com)
Sent: 30 August 2008 20:35PM
To:
Dear Friends,
Here is a recent picture of Bihar inundated by one of the worst
floods ever in recent history.
Photographs
<http://lists.goonj.info/listman/lt.php?id=N0UAAVNZBgRJUwJIAwMAVFU%3D>
For many years now, GOONJ has been working extensively in Bihar through its grassroots partners, with a special focus on the annual floods.
This is an URGENT APPEAL to join GOONJ in its campaign RAHAT FLOODS to provide support to the victims of this unprecedented disaster. The situation is grim and millions of people are affected by the devastation.
With a wide network of organizations and people present in most of the affected districts we are confident of reaching relief at the earliest possible. While the dispatch of material has already started the relief efforts will continue for the next few months.
Possible options for joining this campaign
Material support-
Dry ration, Medicines, candles & matchbox, torch & batteries, utensils, tarpaulin, feeding bottles, buckets, ropes, bedsheets, all kind of usable clothing & footwear. ( For the list of collection centers, please log on to www.goonj.info
<http://lists.goonj.info/listman/lt.php?id=N0UAAVNZBgVJUwJIAwMAVFU%3D>
)
Logistical support-
¨ Transport support to reach the material to effected areas
¨ Space for collection centers
¨ Facilities for local pickups,
¨ Transportation of material from different cities to GOONJ
processing centers in Delhi, Chennai & Mumbai
Needed- large quantities of
¨ Rice, Chiwra, biscuits, packed eatables
¨ Water purifier tablets
¨ Basic medicines
¨ Sarees and children clothing
¨ Tarpaulins or thick polythene
¨ Bedsheets
¨ Export surplus/ Cotton cloth for making sanitary napkins
¨ Mosquito nets
¨ Stoves, cooking and water storage utensils/buckets
Financial support-
¨ Donations in India- Please send cash/cheque/draft in the name of
GOONJ and send it to GOONJ.., J-93, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi- 76
(Kindly send your full name & address with the contribution for
receipt/accounting purpose. ( All donations to GOONJ in India are tax
exempted u/s 80 G of IT act.)
¨ Overseas donationcan reach us through Cheque (in the name of GOONJ
with your full particulars) or by wire transfer with an information
on yasmeengoonj@gmail.com <mailto:yasmeengoonj@gmail.com>
Rotate it ( valid only for overseas donations ) through Wacovia Bank,
New York swift code- 2000193008933, GOONJ, A/C No- 2591101004644
Bank- Canara Bank, H block, market Sarita Vihar, New Delhi- 76
Swift Code- CNRBINBBDFS
Contact- GOONJ
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Flood situation eases in Bihar </b>
pioneer.com
PTI | Patna
Posted online: Sep. 01, 2008
The flood situation in Bihar on Monday showed signs of improvement with the water level receding in five north-eastern districts following reduction in discharge in the Kosi river. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said over five lakh marooned people have been evacuated so far.
"Over five lakh marooned people have been evacuated so far and the rest, too, would be shifted to relief camps and safe shelters in the next three days," Kumar said after a meeting with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) team led by its vice-chairman General NC Vij.
Later, addressing a Press conference along with several top state officials, principal secretary of the state's disaster management department RK Singh claimed over 5.5 lakh marooned people had already been evacuated and the rest about 1.5 lakh would be rescued over in three days' time.
He said 15 Army columns with 150 motorboats and around 1,700 personnel and three columns of the Navy with 45 boats and 135 men as also 395 jawans of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) with 137 boats were assisting the state police machinery in the relief and rescue efforts.
Ten more Army columns with 1,120 men and 100 boats were on their way.
Three more helicopters would join the nine IAF choppers tomorrow for airdropping relief, while two Cheetah helicopters would be pressed into service to spot those still marooned.
"Instructions have been issued to district authorities to evacuate even those who are reluctant to leave their homes fearing theft of assets and property," Singh said
The state administration had pressed into service 28,000 troops of district armed police and special auxiliary police jawans to guard the properties left behind by the victims. Additional motorboats had been made available to the police for patrolling the areas even during the night following reports of burglary and loot by local hooligans, Singh said.
All private boats have been confiscated by the local administration in the wake of reports of extortion by the boatmen controlled by local toughs and were being used by the administration for relief and rescue, he said.
Stating that 23.85 lakh people were affected by the deluge in Madhepura, Araria, Supaul, Saharsa And Purnia Districts, the disaster management department principal secretary said over 2.06 lakh people were taking shelter in the over 200 relief camps.
Mega camps equipped with proper toilets and health centre having operation theatres and labour rooms were coming up at several places in the five affected districts.
An action plan was being formulated by a team headed by state's development commissioner S Vijay Raghavan so that rebuilding and rehabilitation work could be started as soon as the water receded.
Keeping in mind the waste of foodpackets many of which fell into water during airdropping, Singh said new water-proof bags that would hold 25 kg of relief and float on water had been made available by the national disaster management authority.
He said that another around 9.11 lakh people were affected by the floods in Muzaffarpur, Patna, Katihar, Nalanda, West Champaran Khagaria, Sheikhpura, Saran, Begusarai, Bhagalpur and Vaishali districts.
Altogether 24 relief shelters, 105 health centres and 37 veterinary centres were functioning in these districts to provide succour to the people
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09-02-2008, 08:25 AM (This post was last modified: 09-02-2008, 08:26 AM by Capt M Kumar.)
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> It's a matter of national shame that Lalu trying to score brownie points at the cost of flood relief by organizing Lalu zindabad. Part of the blame also goes to PM MMS who is visiting flood affected area and has no place in his helicopter for Nitish who is the CM of Bihar; instead you see Sonia with him. It is such a mammoth task to reconstruct Bihar post flood that central Govt has to put all it's resources in the hands of Nitish so that he can do this job efficiently.
Compare this to Gustav hurricane in Louisiana where Bush is sitting tight in Texas(neighboring state to Louisiana) after placing all the central resources in the hands of Mayor Nagin of New Orleans, Lousiana. Bobby Jindal, Governor has placed all the state resources in the hands of Mayor. McCain has canceled the 1st day of Republican convention for his nomination and instead distributing pamhlets on Country 1st as to how to help people of state and has started website: www.causegreater.com.
Capt Kumarji, entire Kosi's not enough to wash the sins of these nitwits. From what I understan, Sonia can't get plane/helicopter on her own from GOI as she's not cabinet level so it's up to cabinet level or PM to escort her around. My guess is that Sonia decided to see Kosi situation and PM was designated to tag her along, task usually reserved for Shivraj the 'item girl' of UPA.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The governments of India and Bihar are going about the relief work as if it is a favour they are doing for the people.</b> That favour is being doled out in a totally haphazard, unplanned, callous way. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Coming to how this all started, let us look at some facts. The barrage on the Kosi river, just before it enters India in Supaul district of Bihar from the upstream Sunsari district of Nepal, was built under the 1954 Indo-Nepal Treaty. The responsibility for the proper operation and maintenance of the barrage and the 22-km long embankment on both sides of the river is the Government of India's. In the afternoon of August 18, when the embankment breached, the flow of water was about 1.44 lakh cusecs, when the embankment and the barrage are supposed to have a designed capacity of 9.5 lakh cusecs. The fact that the embankment breached at such a low flow compared to the design capacity speaks volumes about the silt accumulation on the Kosi riverbed and about the abysmal state of maintenance of the embankment. The statement from the Indian embassy in Kathmandu that Nepal did not cooperate in ensuring timely maintenance is adding insult to the grave catastrophe
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->So it is clear that firstly, the maintenance be done by the required date and the Government of India could have ensured, at least for the sake of the two million people of Bihar and Nepal in the risk zone, that all measures were taken to ensure timely maintenance was done by June. That was not done. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They were busy dredging Rama Setu you see.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Moreover, the pressure on the breached site on the embankment was apparent from August 5 onwards. Even at this stage, if the Government of India had used all its powers to ensure proper maintenance, the disaster could have been averted. That too was not done. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Massive Army relief, rescue mission on </b>
PIoneer.com
Amarnath Tewary | Patna
State doing its best to provide succour
<b>In one of the biggest ever relief and rescue operations, the Bihar Government has employed all its resources to face the curse of Kosi which has been wreacking unprecedented destruction and devastation of human life and property. Ever since the deluge has struck Bihar's northeastern parts, the miseries and trauma unleashed by the river have eased a bit</b>.Â
Reports coming in from various flood-hit districts say thousands of people are still stranded in remote areas where relief and rescue teams are not able to reach. The lucky survivors are seen pleading with officials and rescue teams to get their relatives and family members evacuated as soon as possible but their wait and hope continues to linger on.
With the enormity of the Kosi catastrophe, the district administration officials are on their toes to mitigate miseries of the villagers.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Army's Lucknow-based Central Command Lt Gen HS Panag visited some flood-hit areas and supervised the relief and rescue operations run by the Army.
Three Command and Control Nodes, each headed by a Brigadier, have been set up to coordinate logistics and rescue operations and all essential communication networks in the affected areas, including satellite phone connections, have been established with help from Army's Signals units, said Army sources.
Besides, the Army has sent 21 medical teams to extend their medical services in the flooded areas. The Army engineers have set up 14 water points with 500 tents accommodating 20 people each.
The Army involved in the mega relief and rescue operations in Bihar has also established a 24-hour control room to coordinate its operations at the Patna airport and two other control centres have also been activated at Bihta and Purnea airstrips.
With reports coming in that there was shortage of Government officials in the affected zones to monitor the relief and rescue operations, the State Government has deployed newly appointed IAS officers in those areas for smooth work.
To intensify relief and rescue operations, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday held a meeting with vice president of the National Disaster Management Committee NC Vij and discussed ways to evacuate the marooned people on an urgent basis.
It was decided at the meeting that from Tuesday, two additional Army helicopters would be pressed into service to identify the locations where the people were stranded and they would inform the rescue teams to help their evacuation.
Nitish Kumar himself is expected to accompany the NDMC vice president in the choppers on Tuesday. Vij later informed mediapersons that altogether 35 columns of Army with about 427 boats with 141 Naval divers have been pressed into service. Besides, 900 country boats are already plying in the inundated areas with 172 relief camps set up for their rehabilitation.
Addressing mediapersons, Nitish Kumar said till date five lakh marooned people have been evacuated, but he looked uncomfortable when asked about the number of people still being stranded in the floodwaters
According to Additional Secretary in the State Disaster Management Committee Pratayay Amrit, the situation is gradually getting under control with every passing day and hopefully in the next two days, almost all the stranded people would be evacuated.
For the first time, relief and rescue operations on such a large scale have been launched in Bihar and for a poor State like Bihar, it's proving a real difficult time to tackle the situation, believe many in the State.
"People from all across the society should come forward in this moment of crisis to help people in Bihar. It's a bigger challenge than tsunami and Bihar today needs not only the national but international help and assistance", said social expert Shaibal Gupta.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> It's a matter of national shame that Lalu trying to score brownie points at the cost of flood relief by organizing Lalu zindabad. Part of the blame also goes to PM MMS who is visiting flood affected area and has no place in his helicopter for Nitish who is the CM of Bihar; instead you see Sonia with him. It is such a mammoth task to reconstruct Bihar post flood that central Govt has to put all it's resources in the hands of Nitish so that he can do this job efficiently.