Waters of adversity

Floods are the new normal in the states of Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, etc., as they receive intense rains from southwest monsoon that causes rivers like Brahmaputra, Ganga, Yamuna, etc. and their tributaries to swell their banks, which, in turn, floods the adjacent areas.

The flood in the national capital is beyond imagination. The capital city of Mughals faced flood-like situation just after a few days of rain in the hills and nearby areas. The scenes of inundated roads, bus terminals, and residential areas reminded us of the year 1978 when Delhi had witnessed a similar situation, as Yamuna had crossed Delhi’s Old Bridge danger mark of 204.50 metres and the river was flowing at 207.49.

The July floods not just wreaked havoc in Delhi, but also brought devastation for Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. In Delhi, Yamuna water level surged to an all-time high of 208.65 meters, surpassing the danger mark by 3.32 meters.

The 45-year-old record was broken in Delhi, while the Himalayan fury in Himachal Pradesh broke the 50-year-long record, as 60 hours of relentless rainfall in the hilly state submerged it under extreme floods — washing away bridges, roads, national highways, buildings, and vehicles, and leaving behind a trail of deaths and devastation. The vehicles, including trucks and buses, were washed away in the floods like toys.

In Punjab, it was for the first time that the water level in the Ghaggar river crossed the 754-feet danger mark in Sangrur district. During the 1993 floods, the water level of the river did not breach the danger mark of 746.2 feet.

According to celebrated water conservationist Rajendra Singh, the floods in Delhi are a human-made disaster, and cannot just be attributed to climate change or natural events. The Delhi floods are a result of misguided development and the obstruction of the Yamuna’s natural flow, Singh claimed.

Singh, who is also known as the ‘Waterman of India’, further said that the discussions over the ideas of policymakers to make Delhi flood-free have been ongoing since the 1960s, but effective action has been lacking.

Historically, Delhi consisted of two distinct regions — the Khadar of Yamuna (Indraprastha) and the Aravalli area (Khandavprastha). In the past, rainwater from the Aravalli region used to flow directly into the Yamuna. However, with urbanisation, these drains now carry sewage and waste, polluting the river. A 2006 study revealed that Delhi had three major drainage systems — Barapulla, Sabi (Najafgarh drain) and Shahdara — along with 201 minor drainages that fed into the Yamuna.

Unfortunately, these drainage systems now carry a mixture of rainwater and sewage, causing flooding and waterlogging during heavy rainfalls, Singh, a Magsaysay awardee, said.

“One of the key issues contributing to the problem is the lack of cooperation among various government agencies. Five agencies, including Delhi government’s Flood Control and Delhi Jal Board, Central Public Works Department, Delhi Development Authority, and Jal Shakti Ministry, work independently, leading to inefficiencies in flood control measures,” he said.

In India, floods are a perennial phenomenon in many states. Being a peninsular country and surrounded by the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, India is quite prone to flooding. As per the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the major flood prone areas of India cover almost 12.5 per cent of the country.

Torrential rainfall, which causes floods, is the most common disaster in India, and leads to immense loss to the country’s property and human lives every year.

Over the past few decades, central India has become familiar with precipitation events like torrential rains and flash floods. The major flood prone areas in India are the river banks and deltas of Ravi, Yamuna-Sahibi, Gandak, Sutlej, Ganga, Ghaggar, Kosi, Teesta, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Mahananda, Damodar, Godavari, Mayurakshi, Sabarmati and their tributaries.

Yamuna — one of the most sacred rivers of the country — is a major river of northern India. It originates from Yamunotri in western Uttarakhand, and flows in a southerly direction swiftly through the Himalayan foothills and exits Uttarakhand along the border between Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to the west. The majestic river Yamuna passes through Delhi to merge with Ganga in Prayagraj while travelling through Mathura, Agra, Firozabad and Etawah in Uttar Pradesh.

Generally, Yamuna is no major threat for Delhi in terms of flooding. Delhi had last witnessed major floods due to rise in Yamuna water levels in 1978. The unprecedented floods in Delhi have exposed the urbanisation model of the Central government as well as the state government, that too when Delhi is the host city of the G20 summit in September.

For many days, vast stretches of Delhi have been inundated due to the Yamuna river reaching its highest water levels in 45 years, and excess water released from Hathnikund barrage which is under Haryana government’s control.

As the flooding has displaced residents, submerged historical sites and roadways and claimed lives, the Delhi government blamed the Haryana government for flooding the state by releasing water from the Hathnikund barrage in a disproportionate way.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the breaching of the Indraprastha water regulator was one of the major reasons why Delhi experienced flooding.

However, experts have blamed encroachments for Delhi floods. “We noticed that the water released from the Hathnikund Barrage took less time to reach Delhi compared to previous years. The main reason could be encroachment and siltation. Earlier, the water

would have had more space to flow. Now, it passes through a constricted cross-section,” a senior official at the Central Water Commission (CWC) said.

Sensing a flood-like situation, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had written a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah and requested that the water release from Hathni Kund be reduced to prevent a further rise in Yamuna’s water levels. Kejriwal’s request became a political fuel for BJP-ruled Haryana, and no such initiative was taken by the Haryana government, citing that there is no way to control the water flow.

Schools were closed. Inter-state bus terminal, Kashmere Gate, crematoriums, etc were closed due to water-logging. Areas like Boat Club, Pandav Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Bhajanpura, Old Yamuna bridge area, Civil Lines, Delhi Secretariat housing offices of Chief Minister Kejriwal, ITO, Rajghat, Red Fort, Ring Road stretch between Kashmere Gate and Purana Lohe Ka Pul, areas around Majnu Ka Tila, Dwarka, Rohini, etc were inundated with floodwaters.

The scenes emerged as Yamuna came to claim its own land that had been occupied by the governments to improve urban planning of the city.

Architect Edward Lutyens was aware that the Yamuna river banks were prone to flooding and malaria outbreaks, when the British decided to make Delhi the capital. However, the construction of the new capital proceeded, as King George V had already laid the foundation stone.

The city’s drainage system was designed in the 1970s for a population of 30-35 lakh. It is now overburdened by the current population of two crore.

Delhi was affected by floods in 1924, 1947, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1995, 2010 and 2013. The floods of 1978 majorly affected Delhi, taking half of the city under its grip.

The Delhi floods have had a devastating impact with over 26,000 people being evacuated from their homes. The estimated loss of property, businesses and earnings may run into crores.

After visiting affected families, the Delhi CM announced Rs 10,000 as financial help to every flood-hit family. The CM has also announced holding special camps for those whose papers like Aadhaar card etc have been washed away; and the children whose clothes and books were washed away will be given these on behalf of the schools.

In Himachal Pradesh, it appeared like swollen mountain rivers were taking revenge against humans for playing with the Himalayan ecology. Experts argue that policymakers need to take a lesson from the man-made disaster in Himachal, and the DPR-based development model of a city should be prohibited in hilly areas.

With several such incidents of nature’s fury being reported, it seems the development-hungry human being is least bothered about the alerts being issued by nature in the form of devastation. Even though Uttarakhand faced the worst-ever disaster in 2013, the activities of infrastructure augmentation are in full swing in the state.

It is an established fact that the maximum destruction occurred in the areas where mega infrastructure projects, road widening, and four-lane activities were undertaken in recent years. According to experts, the reasons behind such ‘man-made’ disasters are soil erosion, failed drainage systems, dumping of huge debris in the rivers, and unchecked illegal mining at the river beds.

The torrential rainfalls have wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh, as devastating floods in the rivers like Beas, Satluj, Ravi, Chenab (Chandra Bhaga) and other overflowing tributaries such as Uhl, Parvati, Tirthan and Sainj have left thousands of people stranded.

The impact of the scheme was so devastating that the state government had to close over 1,000 roads and more than 5,000 water supply schemes were damaged. A 50-year-old bridge connecting Aut in Mandi district with Larji beside Sainj and Banjar was washed away in the heavy rain. The affected areas are Kullu, Manali, Lahaul-Spiti, Mandi, Kinnaur, Una and Chamba districts.

Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu must be praised for evacuating around 70,000 tourists stranded in different parts of the state. Sukhu, who led from the front, stayed awake for three consecutive nights and closely monitored the updates from his ministers and officers and issued necessary guidelines.

The floods in Punjab may create a food security problem, as thousands of farmers across Punjab are now faced with a grim situation of suffering major crop losses with monsoon unleashing its fury. Damage to standing crops due to overflowing water has been reported from different parts of Amritsar, Ropar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Ferozepur and Mohali and other districts.

The crop loss may be the reason that the Centre has decided to put a ban on export of non-basmati rice.

Farmers along the Ghaggar, mainly in Patiala district, and along Satluj, mainly in Jalandhar Ropar and Tarn Taran districts, are also on the edge as both rivers are flowing over the danger mark. The situation in Mohali district is worrisome and the state government has sought Army’s help.

However, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has pledged to bail out people in the flood-affected districts. “The state government is duty-bound to ensure relief to the masses and no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause. The state government is behind the people in the hours of distress and they are being provided succour by all means,” he said.

As a large part of Delhi and north India were left inundated earlier this month amid torrential

rainfalls, it has been estimated that the financial loss due to natural calamities may be above Rs 10,000 crore.

As roads, transformers, electric sub-stations and water supply schemes have suffered extensive damage in Himachal Pradesh, the state CM has estimated a possible loss of nearly Rs 5,000 crore due to floods in the state. Compensation of Rs 1,45,000 has already been provided to those whose houses were completely damaged and Rs 1 lakh to those with partially damaged houses.

Views expressed are personal