The Menace of Floods

No long-standing national flood control policy

It is a pity to note that India has no long-standing national flood control policy when we know that China has since long come over the agony caused by its rivers nicknamed “Sorrow.”

Every year we have floods in different parts of the country. Often the poor states like Bihar and Orissa fall a victim to the ravages of flood. Hundreds of lives are lost and innumerable herds of cattle are washed away. There is an innumerable loss to crops and property. Still, nothing substantial is done. Of course, some steps are taken but they are often insufficient and half-hearted.

A report and Help of NGOs’

The question is why preventive steps are not taken in right earnest and on war-footing.

There is no doubt that the government alone cannot do this colossal task on its own when its resources are limited and demands for relief in various fields and from various quarters are too heavy, exerting, and pressing.

What should be done then? Certainly, this uphill task of flood control on a national level can be achieved by the government with the Non-Government organizations (NGOs) and the common people.

There is another bottleneck. It is often seen that sometimes even if sufficient funds are placed at the disposal of concerned authorities with clear instructions to build the infrastructure such as embankment of rivers, planting of trees, hedges, etc. digging of tanks, canals, etc., nothing practical is done. The funds are either not utilized or only partly utilized and sometimes misutilized and even embezzled. Therefore, it is necessary that some foolproof system is adopted where pure transparency rules the roost. Such an important task should not be given over to unscrupulous employees and contractors. The NGOs should be asked to pool their own resources for the noble cause and the funds collected by them should be kept under thorough scrutiny, checking, and audit system. If any of the NGOs is to be given a grant or loan for the purpose, the credentials of the NGO as its being an authentically registered and responsible organization should be checked and even afterward its work should be thoroughly kept under strict supervision.

Losses and Measures

Most of the water in Indian rivers goes waste into the vast seas while they cause havoc in certain regions. So, if suitable steps are taken, not only floods can be controlled and the annual agony caused to the vulnerable poor sections of society mitigated but also a huge store of water can be collected in tanks, pools, lakes, etc., where it can be utilized during scorching dry summer days and even cold dry days for irrigational and other purposes. In this way, we can kill two birds with one stone. Only some foresight and farsightedness are required which can do wonders and solve even the trickiest of problems on earth.

Every year, some parts of our country witness a deluge while some others face drought or very poor rainfall. Such a topsy-turvy scenario speaks itself of the range of mismanagement, misgovernance, and no or faulty planning in the Indian polity which needs to be corrected urgently to avoid the perpetuation of such contrasting nuisance.