The Hindu Business Line : Taming of the Kosi

The River Kosi — in spate in several parts of Bihar and hence called the sorrow of Bihar — should have been the pride of India. That the 729 km-long river, originating in Nepal, has seven tributaries encircling Mt Everest and is fed by the world’s highest glaciers, is enough reason for its fame.

Second, it is perhaps the only river in the world to have laterally shifted, exceeding 120 km in the last 250 years through more than 12 distinct channels. The river, which used to flow near Purnea in the 18th century, now flows west of Saharsa.

Notorious for floods

The river enters the State of Bihar from Nepal and travels 724 km before merging into Ganges, South of Purnea. The river, along with its tributaries, drains a total area of 69,300 sq km up to its confluence with the Ganges in India.

Due to extensive soil erosion and landslides in its upper catchment, the silt yield of Kosi is about 19 cum/hectare/year, one of the highest in the world. This is carried to the plains, causing a number of interlacing channels, which shift the river flow laterally from time to time.

The river is said to be notorious for its devastating floods, which may rise as much as 30 feet (9 m) in 24 hours and which has made vast tracts of northern Bihar unsafe for habitation or cultivation. It may be noted that India is second in the world after Bangladesh in deaths caused by flooding, accounting for one-fifth of global flooding deaths.

Kosi has an average water flow (discharge) of 1,564 cumecs (cubic metres per second) . During peak floods, it increases to about 18 times over. The highest flood recorded in living memory in the river is reported to be 24,200 cumecs (8,50,000 cusecs) on August 24,1954. To tame the river flow, Koshi Barrage, also called Bhimnagar Barrage, was built between 1959 and 1963 near the Indo-Nepal border, in Nepal. It is an irrigation, flood control and hydropower generation project built under a bilateral agreement between Nepal and India with the entire cost borne by India. The Koshi Barrage has been designed for a peak flood of 950,000 cusecs.

Repair work

On August 18, the river picked up a channel it had abandoned over 200 years ago, thus changing its course, breaking its embankment and drowning towns and villages, thus affecting about 1.2 million people.

It is reported the Government of Indian side did not attend to the repair and maintenance work on the Kosi barrage and the embankment along the river, thereby violating the Nepal-India Kosi agreement. As per the bilateral agreement of 1954, India is entirely responsible for repair and maintenance work and operation of the barrage.

Why are we allowing this tragedy to happen year after year? Thousands die, crores of rupees are lost and nobody is bothered. The successive governments provide relief in cash and kind but these benefits do not reach the people on time. That it does not attract national attention is probably because it happens to poor people and in Bihar.

Development issues

The long-term solution lies in developing a larger and safer dam and a barrage in Nepal and building large hydel projects. The future of Bihar lies in the future of Nepal and taming of the river would help both the nations.

India needs to keep in mind the economic interests of Nepal as well while embarking on this initiative. This could have been achieved easily in the last four decades; now, with an unfriendly Government in Nepal, will the Indian Government be successful in averting future disasters?

What is needed is a sharper focus on development issues in both the countries, leaving behind sectoral and narrow political interests.

(The author is a power consultant.)

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