Kosi flood: Engineers driven away by Nepalese

SAHARSA: The people of north Bihar areused to ravages caused by floods. But they had seen nothing like this before. A13km-wide current of the swollen Kosi river is flowing downstream over a 100kmstretch from Bihar's Basantpur block in Supaul district on the Indo-Nepal borderup to Chausa in Madhepura, ravaging villages on the way. Theengineers of Bihar's water resources development (WRD) department fear that ifit rains in the catchment areas of Nepal, the flow will reach up to Chausa andthen take a turn towards Kursela in Katihar, inundating even more villages. Atleast nine lakh people have been affected in Supaul district alone, with 266villages of the district's Basantpur, Pratapganj, Chhatapur, Triveniganj andRaghopur blocks marooned. Ironically, all these villages were flood-safe tilllast monsoon.With a 400-metre breach on August 18, that fast widenedup to 2km, in the eastern Kosi afflux bund at Kusaha in Nepal, the turbulentKosi waters gushed in towards the southeast. The Sanjai, Sursara and Bhengacanal streams, on which the Kosi flowed earlier, were fed afresh, leading to thespread of water in areas located along the banks of these streams. The Kosi hasa history of westward shift of its stream from Purnia to Supaul over the last300 years. For a change, the breach in the eastern afflux bund has causedeastward movement of the Kosi water flow, inundating the areas hithertoconsidered flood-safe.Bihar government sources said the river, whichhas a heavy load of silt, has been maintaining pressure on the spurs near 12.8kmpoint of the eastern afflux bund since 1985. This has been forcing the WRDengineers to undertake bund strengthening work every year. This yeartoo, Bihar engineers started work at Kusaha on August 9. However, local Nepalresidents forced the engineers to leave the work midway on August 16. SeniorSupaul district officials made a fresh attempt to visit the spot on August 18,but had to come back in the face of furious protests. The tragedy followed: thebund breached on August 1, catching villagers unawares. Thedevastations and destructions have been fast spreading. The Bihar governmenttill Saturday said 10 lakh people have been hit. On Monday CM Nitish Kumar putthe figure of flood-hit at 21 lakh.An estimated 10 to 15 lakh peoplehave taken shelter on rail tracks, canals and other segregated places where theyhave been struggling for survival in absence of adequate food material. Althoughthe state administration puts the death toll at two, eyewitnesses said the deathtoll could be in hundreds.