Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said: ‘Declaring floods a national problem is not going to work. We need a national solution.’ Salute to you, Himanta ji. This is the first time I’ve heard any Chief Minister say this.
The solution is as follows:
We are not suffering from floods. We are suffering from poverty.
Netherlands has only 50% of its land that is higher than 1 m above sea level. 26% of its area and 21% of its population are below sea level.
Still, it doesn’t get flooded. Its life doesn’t get paralysed for days, three or four times every year. In fact, it is one of the richest countries in the world, is the second largest exporter of food after the USA, and has more FDI in it than the whole of the African continent put together.
Netherlands is the first Capitalist country of the world. It pioneered the concept of free market, modern banking, debts and credits, and the rule of law that recognised the sanctity of contracts. In short, the whole system, which was called Capitalism and denounced for being so by Marx, is the creation of the Netherlands.
It doesn’t worship the environment; it tames it. It creates artificial hills on which it builds its cities and villages, and then joins them with dykes that form its canals also. It reclaims land from the sea, instead of having some foolish Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules which prohibit the construction of structures close to the sea. In fact, 17% of its area has been reclaimed from the sea. It has 3000 km of primary sea dykes, and 10000 km of secondary dykes.
Netherlands suffered heavy floods in 1953, which killed about 1800. Instead of chest-beating in TV studios, it drew up 30-year plans and has strengthened the dykes to withstand 10000-year return period floods instead of 4000 years earlier. In fact, unlike us, instead of planning to commit economic suicide in the worship of fraud called Global Warming/Climate change, it has already drawn plans and started work to face it. Anticipating a sea level rise of 1.2 m, it is already raising dykes by that height.
India is a country that now has development plans controlled by NGO bosses. They can block any intervention planned against natural disasters, because they want to preserve our environment in some pristine state. They are also the first to rush to TV studios to denounce the government for not doing anything to prevent flooding, and at the same time work to put laws and rules in place to make sure that nothing can be done to prevent flooding.
There is no way to control floods except to rise above the water, literally.
In Bihar, in Assam, in every state, High Flood Levels are known. Raise all villages and towns by constructing artificial hills as the Netherlands did. And raise all roads above that level. Or enclose them inside dykes all around and keep pumps ready. Keeping the plinth level 1 m above High Flood Level is the norm.
For doing so, we will need money, and to have money, we will need industrialisation, and to have industrialisation, in addition to having a free market economy, we will need to shut up those who claim that industrialisation causes floods. Industrialisation does not cause floods. It equips us to fight it.
In 1947, if we had leaders with brains, instead of egos and mediocrity, all this could have been accomplished by now. But it is never too late. Within a decade or two, flood waters entering our homes will become a distant memory; instead, that water will be stored and pumped to rain-deficient areas of the country.
In the intensive agriculture areas, that is, Punjab, Haryana, and Western UP, the water table is going dangerously down. On the other hand, each year Bihar, Assam, and West Bengal get submerged in water. If we become rich, that is, if we become Capitalists, all that water will be pumped and piped to Punjab, Haryana, and Western UP, and used to recharge the groundwater.
But most likely our thuggish ruling elite will do nothing towards that. It will instead ration irrigation water in Punjab, Haryana, and Western UP, impoverishing those areas and killing our food security.
Socialists love nothing more than scarcity and rationing.
Next to rationing, they love to fight natural disasters through relief, instead of preventing the disasters. So, they will have annual relief money in the flood-prone areas, instead of making them flood-proof.
The water gushing through the streets in Indian cities and being broadcast on TV is not an indication of more rains or Global Warming. The cities have expanded without matching rainwater drainage systems. The result is that water takes longer to drain out of our cities, and hence first rises to levels not seen earlier. Higher water level also means steeper water surface gradients, leading to higher flow speeds you see on TV.
The cities continue to expand, and planners do not think of rainwater drainage. Plinth levels, even in new construction, do not take into account likely flood levels. So water enters homes also.
In short, do not resort to short-term band-aid. Money will be lost. Approach hydrologists in engineering colleges, give them enough time for a proper field survey and planning, and then implement the plans.
