Ignored and undermined, Nepal’s new settlement and infrastructures are vulnerable to the natural disasters like floods and landslides. Whether in mountain areas or in terai plain or in Kathmandu, these settlements are the fist victims of any flood during monsoon. Thanks to the concentrated rainfall, this year’s flood in eastern Nepal has wrecked havoc killing more than 102 people and destroying infrastructures in eastern parts of the country. If the flood in small rivers and stream can trigger such destructions, what will happen in case of flood in Kosi – which is said to be on the brink of causing mother of all floods – is anybody’s guess. Despite being faced with perennial calamities, the country’s disaster management still seems to be merely a short-term relief operation. Are we prepared for major floods like Kosi?
By KESHAB POUDEL
Ram Janam Mishra, 50, a resident of Gaur, headquarters of Rautahat district, 200 miles south of capital, has lost everything including two buffaloes, two bulls and some food grains. The flash flood of Bagmati river washed out his small hut and green rice field.
At the initiative of district administration, Mishra was temporarily rehabilitated near the government forest but his future remains uncertain. “My entire field was swept away by the flood. I don’t know how long we have to stay here,” said Mishra.
Like Mishra, there are thousands of people whose property was washed away by the monsoon floods and landslides in the first week of July. The government reports show lesser magnitude of the problem compared to the real situation.
The government compensation is distributed only to those who have political influence. They need to fulfill certain criteria to become a flood victim. Since the process is complicated and cumbersome, many victims go unnoticed. And political consideration always dominated as far as the distribution of relief is concerned.
Duryodhan Yadav of Hanumannagar of Saptari district has another story to tell. Yadav – a poor farmer with less than an acre of arable land – lost everything as the water of Kosi river turned towards his land.
“I am not sure when and where the sand will cover my field. After few weeks, all the concerned people will forget what happened to our villages and green fields,” said Yadav. “Although some political leaders have promised help, I don’t know what kinds of support the villagers will get.”
Following the outburst of monsoon rain, many families in the eastern and central regions have lost their ancestral property and many others have even lost their near and dear ones.
Although the water level at Kosi river crossed the danger mark and the warning sign was sent out to the residents living nearby, it did not cause much damage this time.
“Our people in Saptari have sleepless nights and anxious daytimes as soon as the monsoon sets in. Nobody knows when the mighty Kosi river will sweep away our residents,” said Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav, former member of House of Representatives and vice president of Nepal Sadbhavana Party. “Following the warning siren, thousands of people left their home in search of secure place and for a couple of days Hanumannagar and other nearby villages were inundated.”
Nepalese side was less affected by the Kosi flood this time compared to the Indian side of Bihar where tens of thousands of people were rendered homeless. Although India has already constructed embankments along the Kosi river, this year’s devastation show that it is not enough.
“The Kosi river is now on the verge of shifting to the east far away from its present course. The peoples of Nepal and India are heading for a natural disaster of an unprecedented scale,” writes Dr. AB Thapa, a water resources expert (See spotlight, September, 12-18, 2003). “All the past and present studies and the very recent observations indicate that the Kosi is quickly turning into a hanging river and we are heading for an unprecedented flood disaster. Such flood disaster would not be just one time event.”
Bilateral Matter
The flood problems of Nepal is a bilateral matter between Nepal and India as people living on both the sides have to face the wrath of heavy rain and flash floods in the mountains and plains of Nepal. The heavy rainfall in the mountains of Nepal result in swelling of streams and rivers downstream and flash floods in Nepalese terai and Indian plains.
From major rivers like Kosi in the east to Gandaki, Karnali and Mahakali river, thousands of rivers and small streams originate in Nepal and flow to India before converging into the Ganges carrying tons of debris along with them.
In the last four decades, even the floods of small rivers and streams have terrorized tens of thousands of people living in both the sides. Thanks to certain interventions, Kosi river – which is known as the river of sorrow of Bihar shifted from east to west over 120 km in the last 200 years – seems to be tamed for now.
The recent floods in Bihar show that the river like Kosi, which carries up to 51,000 million cubic meters of water- cannot be totally tamed by simply constructing embankments on the two sides of the river.
Although India has already constructed enormous embankments along Nepal-India border to protect their citizens from flash flood pouring from Nepal, such small interventions, experts argue, only give short-term benefits to the people living across the border and become cause of pain to Nepalese farmers.
If we are panic-stricken even by the floods of small rivers, are we prepared to face the Kosi flood – which, experts argue, is inevitable if no strong intervention is immediately carried out?
Loss of Disaster
With the population of over 24 million and about 40 percent of them living below the poverty line, the natural disasters including floods are causing major problems in the country. According to the World Bank’s Nepal Country Assistance Strategy 2004-2007, with approximately 85 percent of the total population living in rural areas, poverty is largely a rural phenomenon in Nepal – a rural poverty incidence of 44 percent compared to about 23 percent in urban areas.
Prepared by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) A Global Report on Reducing Disaster Risk A Challenge Before Development reveals that the preparedness level in Nepal is very insignificant. In terms of flood, Nepal is very much vulnerable. “Over the last quarter century, the number of reported natural disasters and their impact on human and economic development worldwide has been increasing yearly,” the report said.
“Despite all our efforts, sadly, we are losing valuable lives of the people and basic infrastructures every year. If we look at the impact of disaster events in the last twenty years in Nepal, in average, each year 105 people die and properties worth millions of rupees are destroyed. In the year 2002 alone, floods and landslides claimed the lives of 441 people and destroyed the properties worth 400 million rupees,” said Ananta Raj Pandey, Secretary at Ministry of Home. “Nepal, being located in high disaster risk area, has been exposed to greater threats of disasters all the year round.”
About 6000 people have been reported killed and loss of properties worth about 13,500 million rupees has been estimated in the last ten year period. Nearly 29% of the total annual death of people and 43% of the total loss of properties from different types of disaster in Nepal are caused by floods, landslides and avalanches, which are triggered by heavy precipitation.
According to a study by professor K.B. Thapa and Associate Professor N.R. Khanal on Flood Hazard In Nepal & Need For Flood Forecasting In Hindukush Himalayan Region, on an average more than 23,000 live stocks and more than 6,700 houses and 4,760 hectares of arable lands have been damaged by floods, landslides and avalanches between 1983 and 2000. Total loss of properties is estimated at between the range of 21.2 to 4,904 million rupees with an average of 749 million rupees per year.
Nearly 4 percent of the total gross domestic product at factor cost in 1997/98 was lost from water-induced disaster. Though there is a high fluctuation in losses, after 1993 these are quite substantial (Figure 6.). More losses are to be expected in future since there is increasing encroachment and investment for settlements and other infrastructures in marginal areas prone to floods and landslides. Furthermore, there are hardly any precautionary measures for mitigation of these disasters and no early warning systems.
The government’s relief programs conclude after the distribution of certain amount of money to death victims, injured persons and other people who lose their homes. The growing insecurity has worsened the problem. The Maoists killed some policemen who were dispatched to the disaster-hit areas on rescue operation.
In response to the disaster, the government sent relief materials and evacuated people who lost houses and properties. Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha and Sindhuli all the districts of central terai were badly hurt. Eastern terai districts like Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha and Udayapur also suffered significant losses.
According to the Disaster Relief Section of the Ministry of Home, the floods damaged properties worth Rs.300 million this year. The ministry has already sanctioned Rs.5.1 million for the immediate relief.
The district headquarters of Dhanusha, Sarlahi, Mahottari and Rautahat witnessed the accumulation of water up to four feet level. From government offices to private houses, the floodwater wrecked havoc.
Apart from damaging the public property, the flood also washed away certain portion of east-west highway in Hetauda, 150 miles south of capital. For a couple of days, the link to the capital was disconnected.
The government claims that it has a clear institutional framework with comprehensive mandate to deal with the issue of disasters in the country. From central to district levels, there are natural disaster relief committees.
According to the data of the last ten years, in average, each year 105 people died and properties worth millions rupees were destroyed. In the year 2003, 300 people died and 10,343 families were affected by the floods.
Human Settlements
Haphazard human intervention is responsible for growing destructions and losses from floods and landslides. Because of growing human population, many settlements and towns sprung up along the riverbanks. The infrastructures like irrigation canals, roads and embankments disturbed the natural flow of the rivers.
From capital Kathmandu to other places, human intervention is responsible for the floods. Places like Samakhushi in capital where a small stream often creates problems by outflanking from its natural course. The flash flood creates similar havoc in different parts of the country. As the river’s natural course is encroached by the people, river drainage tries to return to its normal place whenever there is overflow of water. This year’s flood, too, has proved this point.
Flood Control
Nepal is known for its mountainous areas in which unstable natural environments, steep slopes, weak and fragile geology and heavy monsoon rainfall combine to make the young mountains one of the most dangerous environments in the world. Normally, the monsoon lasts for 106 days in Nepal but sometime it lasts a little longer.
Flood control is going to be the major boon as the country is losing properties worth millions of rupees and precious human lives annually. Nepal’s flood control program will also benefit India – particularly the population in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will immensely benefit.
India needs Nepal for flood control as its previous efforts to control it by building embankments within its border have no longer proved to be adequate safeguard for its citizens. There needs to be a long term technical study and technicians should be allowed to take the decisions.
Infrastructures Under threat
Nepal’s infrastructures like road, irrigation canals and hydropower stations are under the threat of natural landslides and floods. Kathmandu-Mugling and Mugling-Naryangadh portion of road are only two such examples. East West highway as well as the Tribhuwan Rajpath – the oldest road link to the capital – are also unsafe.
Whether the highways in mountain or Terai, they are under threat either by flash flood or landslides. The government has to spend millions of rupees annually to maintain these roads and highways.
The flash flood of 1993 swept away seven bridges and large portion of roads along Kathmnandu-Mugling and Rapti river damaged the road in Hetauda, 100 miles south of capital. It took five years to construct the road and bridges.
The landslides of 2003 had destroyed a large portion of Mugling- Narayangadh section, 80 miles west of capital. Although the rehabilitation of the road began a year ago, it is yet to be completed. This year’s flood further damaged the road. Like in the past, the flood also swept away a portion of the East West highway in Hetauda. Some bridges were damaged in Sarlahi, Mahottari and Dhanusha districts.
”Indo-Nepal cooperation on water resources would be in the interest of both the countries. The good relations already existing between the two countries in the field of water resources should not be allowed to tarnish by no means,” said Dr. Ananda Bahadur Thapa, a water resources expert (See Spotlight 22-28 August, 2003.
Policy And Plans
In the past few years, Nepalese policy-makers have been making efforts to study about the water induced problems in order to analyze the flood problems of Nepal. Experts argue that Nepalese policy makers have already diagnosed wrong prescription for the problems.
The country has come up with a number of short-term policies and programs in the last few decades but only a few have tried to analyze the real cause of the problem. Whether the documents prepared by international organizations or the government, no one seems to be aware about the extent of the danger the floods pose to Nepal. Although the Kosi flood will be one of the biggest disaster for Nepal, there is no mention about it in the water resource strategy report – which has given great emphasis on water induced disaster mitigation.