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New Delhi : The Government of India ( GoI) has been making continuous efforts to assist the State Governments in effective flood management. During XI Plan, Government of India had launched Flood Management Programme (FMP) for providing Central Assistance to States for works related to flood management and erosion control which continued during XII Plan and thereafter, as a component of “Flood Management and Border Areas Programme” (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 to 2020-21. Central Assistance to the tune of Rs 924.41 Crore has been provided to State of Bihar up to March 2021 under FMP component of this Programme.
The main reason for floods in Bihar is an increased discharge in rivers of North Bihar like Gandak, Burhi Gandak, Bagmati, Kamla, Kosi, and Mahananda due to heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas which mainly lie in Nepal. The management of floods due to these rivers has been a concern.
The related issues are discussed in the existing Indo-Nepal bilateral mechanisms comprising (i) Joint Ministerial Level Commission on Water Resources (JMCWR) (ii) Joint Committee on Water Resources (JCWR) (iii) Joint Standing Technical Committee (JSTC) (iv) Joint Committee on Gandak & Kosi Projects (JCKGP) and (v) Joint Committee on Inundation and Flood Management (JCIFM). The GoI is having regular dialogue with the Government of Nepal for construction of dams on these rivers for mutual benefit of the two countries which includes flood control, according to a PIB release.
This information was given by Minister of State for Jal Shakti & Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Julu 29, 2021.
As far as non – structural measures of flood management are concerned, Central Water Commission (CWC) is the nodal organisation entrusted with the task of flood forecasting and early flood warnings in the country. At present, CWC issues flood forecasts for 328 forecasting stations (190 river level forecast stations. Out of these 328 stations, 43 stations (3-inflow & 40 level forecast) are located in Bihar. There are altogether 138 dam/ barrage inflow forecast stations.