Local responses to too much and too little water in the greater Himalayan region
Geographical context was launched in 1955. It involved the construction of
embankments, which were completed by 1959. The
As the third largest state, Bihar in north India borders
construction of a barrage across the river in 1963
Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra to the west, West
was to facilitate irrigation. Massive construction activity
Bengal to the east, and Jharkhand to the south. To the
followed in other river basins in Bihar.
north is the international boundary with Nepal. Most of
the population of Bihar (83 million) live in rural areas
Despite additions to the total length of embankments,
with only 10% living in urban areas.
Bihar has the highest number of flood-affected people
per capita in India. The area threatened by floods has
North Bihar receives about 1,300-1,700 mm of
grown continuously from 2.5 million ha in 1952 to
rainfall each year (GoB 2009), mostly during the four
6.9 million hectares (ha) in 1993 (GoB 1994). Within
monsoon months. The rainfall can be uncertain in terms
Bihar, 74% of North Bihar plains are flood-prone.
of both quantity and timing. Most farmers have only
Since 87% of the population depends on agriculture
rainfed crops, so they face drought and crop failure on
for livelihoods, survival in such a large area flooded
a regular basis. Especially for autumn crops, a lack of
for much of the year has become difficult. The state that
rains during critical phases in the crop cycle can mean
used to enjoy food surplus now suffers chronic food
the loss of three-quarters of the expected harvest.
deficits.
A comparison of the records of 1966-67 and 1986-87
reveals that the flood-prone districts of north Bihar are as Study sites
or more susceptible to droughts than the districts of south
As the impact of the Koshi project varies in different
Bihar and Jharkhand. Even Khagaria district, known as
villages, the team selected the study sites with reference
‘the submerged district’, suffered drought conditions in
to their location on the embankment and canal in order
seven of the 20 years.
to observe differences. Table 2 briefly describes the
study site villages.
Past flood responses and management
Prior to the construction of the embankments, people Socioeconomic context and livelihood patterns
in the floodplains had adapted and adjusted to the
In all the villages in the study, only 20-30% of the people
agro-ecological setting, by planning to avoid river
own land, the rest are landless, working as labourers.
flooding during the monsoon from July to September. The
The upper caste and, to some extent, the middle caste
annual monsoon overflow of the rivers did not allow the
people own most of the land.
villagers to grow crops harvested in the autumn close to
the rivers.
Governance – The local people have little or no
role in the governance of day-to-day issues despite
Each village had its own system of floodplain zoning
decentralisation through the Panchayati Raj Act.
and flexible land-use with different categories of
Elections of local level bodies were held only recently
land depending on the soil and altitude (lowland or
after decades. Even these bodies have caste politics and
highland). Specific lands were put to use for different
are a battleground for state and national level political
purposes and crops (Singh 2003). For example, people
parties. Bihar has a poor record implementing poverty
living close to the river mostly grew crops sown in
alleviation programmes and government services.
May and harvested in June or sown in November and
harvested in March. Those living further from the rivers
Health and education – The region and study villages
mostly grew crops sown in June-July and harvested in
are characterised by poor indicators of human
October.
development. Although registering an increase of 10%
in the last decade, the literacy rate in the Koshi districts
Many of these traditional land-use systems have
is still significantly lower than national standards and
disappeared with population growth, extension of
state averages. Health services are poor, especially in
cultivation, flood protection measures, and other
inaccessible villages. This creates serious hardships for
infrastructure developments in the region.
the people with a prevalence of water-borne diseases
like malaria, kalaazar, and Japanese encephalitis
After considerable deliberations on how to lessen the
brought by the floods and waterlogging.
impacts of the shifting Koshi River, the Koshi project
34