MONSOON WOES AND THE PROBLEMS OF PLENTY
I was a young boy then studying in the local panchyat school in the village when I first encountered floods in the river Kaveri; this was 1962 and the village I grew up was surrounded on all sides by water and the village became an island. After a month and a half some normalcy returned with a dirt road connecting the village to the other parts of the district. There were huge deposit of sand in a large tracts of fertile lands making them not fit for cultivation. Similar floods were not seen since then but the nature's fury had been such that it wrecked havoc in large parts of coastal areas in subsequent years.
In the years since and even before, there had been frequent floods in many parts of North India especially in Bihar, eastern UP Assam and Bengal flooding many areas and the number of casualties increasing with passing years. The tributaries to the Ganga which originate in Nepal and meeting the river in the state of Bihar had been rendering the lives of many in tatters in the past many decades. The Kosi, Kandaki, Narayani and other smaller rivers over flow with huge silt and flood the plains of Bihar. The Brahmaputra originating in the HImalayas in Tibet run through the state of Assam flooding the entire state before bringing misery to Bangladesh when it joins Ganga to run through the country as Padma. There are years when parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra had been facing similar situation with excessive monsoon. Odisha is another state which had been facing the brunt of nature's fury during the monsoons both in the flooding of the rivers and also in the coastal areas due to cyclones. The coastal Andhra Pradesh also faces similar problems of flooding of rivers and cyclones battering the coastal areas.
One of the most pro active steps taken in the recent years is the canal linking the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada with the southern part of Rajasthan to provide drinking and irrigation water to the parched areas of Kutch in Gujarat and some parts of Rajasthan. The cover over the canal is now used for producing solar electricity. In the southern state of AP, the main two rivers Godavari and Krishna had been linked and it would be all the more useful if the link canal is extended to the other southern rivers like Penna, Palar, Kaveri, Vaigai and Tambraparani. It will provide a continuous flow of water from the northern rivers like Godavari and Krishna to deep south and some of the Rayalaseema areas. If the northern rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and the eastern rivers like Kosi are linked to the Mahanadhi and further down to Godavari, the flooding in the states of Bihar and eastern UP may be contained to an extent.
The indiscriminate felling of trees and deforestation along the foothills of western ghats in Tamilnadu is one of the major contributor for low monsoon yield in the recent ten year period. Despite a countrywide better monsoon in both the south west and north east monsoons, the state of Tamilnadu had been deficient in rain fall yield despite the coastal district getting battered by cyclones during the north east monsoon. The deforestation has been happening not just in Tamilnadu alone but along the western ghats foots hills through the entire length from down south in Kanyakumari to the north in Pune in Mahaashtra and beyond. This has reduced the rain fall in most of the places along the foothills of the western ghats on the eastern side. There are times when the cities in this perimeter have to go for rationing water. The major city in Tamilnadu in this belt, Coimbatore had been having a very low rainfall in the last two years and the rainfall in the current monsoon (SW 2017) had been better than the last two years. Still the yield is much lower than the last three decade average. The tree cover in most of the areas near the foot hills had vanished giving way to concrete buildings and paved roads and places. The ground water level had sunk to such low in some places that even at 500 feet depth there is not enough water.
There had not been any attempt to store the rain water in times of excess rain fall in the state thus leading to shortage during times of low yield. In many places, the traditional water storage areas had been leveled and buildings have come up and that is one reason for the urban flooding in times of monsoon rains and cyclones. The water ways had been filled with all municipal waste and plastic which block the smooth flow of water and result in overflowing and breaching the banks flooding the areas nearby. The local governments have to make some serious attempts to remove such municipal waste and clear the water ways. The Dec 2015 flooding of Chennai, the recent flooding in Mumbai and to a smaller extent in some cities across the country in the recent monsoon are mainly on account of the blocking of waterways with municipal waste and plastic and traditional water storage areas have vanished with buildings coming up in those places instead.
The ambitious river linking program has to be given priority as it will boost the irrigation and solve the drinking water problem across the country and may reduce the woes of monsoon in some states due to flooding. There had not been any major project undertaken since long except in space exploration and nuclear power. The foremost mode of transportation in the USA was waterways and boats before the interstate highways were built and made to connect every corner of the country. The waterways of USA are still being used but not to the extent they were used before the boom of automobiles and transportation through roads. The Danube which runs through different countries in Europe is one of the finest examples of waterways and river ports. The Nile in Egypt is another river having some of the best river ports in the country.
The rivers are presently under the control of the state where it originates and the inter-state agreement provides for sharing of river waters between the states. This has its own lacunae as seen in the dispute between Tamilnadu and Karnataka in sharing the waters of river Kaveri. The dispute between Haryana and Punjab in the matter of SYL canal is another pointer. Therefore, it is essential that all the rivers are nationalised and brought under the central authority. It is high time that the central government gets every state government on board and gets all the rivers across the country linked and nationalise the rivers and water ways.
In the years since and even before, there had been frequent floods in many parts of North India especially in Bihar, eastern UP Assam and Bengal flooding many areas and the number of casualties increasing with passing years. The tributaries to the Ganga which originate in Nepal and meeting the river in the state of Bihar had been rendering the lives of many in tatters in the past many decades. The Kosi, Kandaki, Narayani and other smaller rivers over flow with huge silt and flood the plains of Bihar. The Brahmaputra originating in the HImalayas in Tibet run through the state of Assam flooding the entire state before bringing misery to Bangladesh when it joins Ganga to run through the country as Padma. There are years when parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra had been facing similar situation with excessive monsoon. Odisha is another state which had been facing the brunt of nature's fury during the monsoons both in the flooding of the rivers and also in the coastal areas due to cyclones. The coastal Andhra Pradesh also faces similar problems of flooding of rivers and cyclones battering the coastal areas.
One of the most pro active steps taken in the recent years is the canal linking the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada with the southern part of Rajasthan to provide drinking and irrigation water to the parched areas of Kutch in Gujarat and some parts of Rajasthan. The cover over the canal is now used for producing solar electricity. In the southern state of AP, the main two rivers Godavari and Krishna had been linked and it would be all the more useful if the link canal is extended to the other southern rivers like Penna, Palar, Kaveri, Vaigai and Tambraparani. It will provide a continuous flow of water from the northern rivers like Godavari and Krishna to deep south and some of the Rayalaseema areas. If the northern rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and the eastern rivers like Kosi are linked to the Mahanadhi and further down to Godavari, the flooding in the states of Bihar and eastern UP may be contained to an extent.
The indiscriminate felling of trees and deforestation along the foothills of western ghats in Tamilnadu is one of the major contributor for low monsoon yield in the recent ten year period. Despite a countrywide better monsoon in both the south west and north east monsoons, the state of Tamilnadu had been deficient in rain fall yield despite the coastal district getting battered by cyclones during the north east monsoon. The deforestation has been happening not just in Tamilnadu alone but along the western ghats foots hills through the entire length from down south in Kanyakumari to the north in Pune in Mahaashtra and beyond. This has reduced the rain fall in most of the places along the foothills of the western ghats on the eastern side. There are times when the cities in this perimeter have to go for rationing water. The major city in Tamilnadu in this belt, Coimbatore had been having a very low rainfall in the last two years and the rainfall in the current monsoon (SW 2017) had been better than the last two years. Still the yield is much lower than the last three decade average. The tree cover in most of the areas near the foot hills had vanished giving way to concrete buildings and paved roads and places. The ground water level had sunk to such low in some places that even at 500 feet depth there is not enough water.
There had not been any attempt to store the rain water in times of excess rain fall in the state thus leading to shortage during times of low yield. In many places, the traditional water storage areas had been leveled and buildings have come up and that is one reason for the urban flooding in times of monsoon rains and cyclones. The water ways had been filled with all municipal waste and plastic which block the smooth flow of water and result in overflowing and breaching the banks flooding the areas nearby. The local governments have to make some serious attempts to remove such municipal waste and clear the water ways. The Dec 2015 flooding of Chennai, the recent flooding in Mumbai and to a smaller extent in some cities across the country in the recent monsoon are mainly on account of the blocking of waterways with municipal waste and plastic and traditional water storage areas have vanished with buildings coming up in those places instead.
The ambitious river linking program has to be given priority as it will boost the irrigation and solve the drinking water problem across the country and may reduce the woes of monsoon in some states due to flooding. There had not been any major project undertaken since long except in space exploration and nuclear power. The foremost mode of transportation in the USA was waterways and boats before the interstate highways were built and made to connect every corner of the country. The waterways of USA are still being used but not to the extent they were used before the boom of automobiles and transportation through roads. The Danube which runs through different countries in Europe is one of the finest examples of waterways and river ports. The Nile in Egypt is another river having some of the best river ports in the country.
The rivers are presently under the control of the state where it originates and the inter-state agreement provides for sharing of river waters between the states. This has its own lacunae as seen in the dispute between Tamilnadu and Karnataka in sharing the waters of river Kaveri. The dispute between Haryana and Punjab in the matter of SYL canal is another pointer. Therefore, it is essential that all the rivers are nationalised and brought under the central authority. It is high time that the central government gets every state government on board and gets all the rivers across the country linked and nationalise the rivers and water ways.
Real estate Mafia's are biggest culprit. These Mafia's grabbed fertile land which is otherwise called river beds with the help of corrupt politicians. Secondly Townships and Infra structure developed by Government do not focus on basics like creating proper structured sewage line and storm water pipes. Classic example is OMR at Chennai.
ReplyDeleteLet’s take a look at the low-lying area of Mumbai, where there is a maximum chance of water-logging. The low-lying areas of Mumbai are Bandra, Wadala, Malad and Dharavi. The Mithi river flows through Bandra. The banks of the river have been compromised for the development of slums. The people from these slums dump all their waste shamelessly in the river, leading to excessive pollution. When it rains too much, the river overflows, and the homes of such people are washed away. Even now, 12 years after 2005, the Mithi river is still compromised. I don’t see the richest municipal government body of Asia, the BMC taking any initiative to desalinate the river, and to destroy the settlements along the banks. As for the other river in Mumbai, the Poisar river; forget it. It’s no longer a river, it’s a stinking nullah with similar slum settlements along the banks. One doesn’t need any introduction to the state of cleanliness in Mumbai. We dump our waste in the gutters, choking them up, and when the rains beat hard, we complain, and blame the BMC. The truth is that, people who litter are responsible, and should be punished severely. In fact, they are the fuckers who are directly responsible for the lives lost in the floods. As a city, Mumbai is one of the only two metropolitan cities in the world to have a national park within the city. But sadly, we are bent on destroying it too. I am not talking about the metro shed in Aarey, as that is controversial. One must not forget that good infrastructure too is necessary. But, the rapid encroaching on the forests by the shameless builders and the slum-dwellers have compromised the water-sinks of the city.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the mangroves along the Eastern coastline of Mumbai, in Mankhurd and Sewri, and in Madh and Malad. These mangroves have been encroached upon, and are rapidly being destroyed. It is common knowledge that mangroves are important for the ecosystem as sinks of waters. The mangroves in the Malad creek are virtually extinct due to garbage dumping. Shameful, as it is, it is true. In all, it is the incompetency of the Municipal Corporation and the problem of slum-dwellers, coupled with the ignorance of citizens, which results in this pathetic plight.
Now lets talk about our own Chennai: Let's assume you dumped one kilogram of trash in your kitchen sink and tried to flush it. What happens to your pipes? Everything will be clogged and if you don't close the tap, the sink will be flooded and then the home. Now, you go to the next step & take out the whole drainage pipe to make for little extra room to live. What happens then? Penny wise, pound foolish
ReplyDeleteNot long ago Chennai was brimming with lakes and other water bodies. Even a couple of decades ago there were 650 water bodies in the city. Now very few remain. Those water bodies are the drain pipes of the city that took the rainwater and stored it underground. Most of those pipes are sold now and the remaining are clogged.
Fundamentally, the city is not designed to house 5 million people and its flat terrain makes it hard to get water out of the system without those waterbodies and marshes. But, we neither build new cities to reduce stress off Chennai [and save its remaining water bodies] nor redesign the city infrastructure to accommodate this new burden. Why does Chennai keep going under water?
Every time we complain about this during the floods and then weeks later we forget everything. We stop making floods as a major election issue. Our governments don't care as they know their voters have attention spans smaller than that of fruitflies.
We keep abusing our rivers to no end and very few Chennaiwasis actually do anything to the great river running through the city's center.