Damages by floods

I remember that when I was going to be retired I was posted at Gorakhpur in 1998 (6/1998 to 30/11/1998) and I was given the charge of !irrigation works circle newly created at that time by Up Govt.In those years also there was heavy rains and it was said that it had broken the records of heavy rains of 100 years.It was reported that Nepal had released the water from the barrages and dams so as to save the dams and their villages in Nepal.In those days also our senior officers were sent to Nepal but it was a sad story that nothing could be achieved and our heavy earth moving machines and staff came back and without doing much work and the result was that so many villages of Sant Kabir Nagar , Deoria Basti,,Mau . Ballia ,and Gorakhpur were submerged and heavy damage and loss to property and lives were reported.I had seen the vast sheet of water with some of villages sitting on high lands and some took the shelter on tree tops.While inspecting the lift canals we had face the problems of silting with the result our lift machines could not operate.While plugging the breaches I noticed that some times some shori ( hole created by mouse just like tunnel in the dam )could create wide breach.The moment it is noticed it should be plugged by the controlling staff at the bund site.The bunds should be properly maintained and annual repairs should be completely adhered.There are about 55 bunds out of which 53 bunds were breached in and around Gorakhpur The Govt suspended the engineers and inquiries were set up which later on prolonged for so many years .The Govt was very keen in suspending the engineers but not pondering the reality of the situation .The Govt sanctioned some fund for repairs too late when the next rain started and the petty contractors and big contractors used say that they were not able to carry out works because their so and so claims were pending and the half hearted efforts were made.The ministers used to do aerial survey and hold meetings in the circuit houses of the districts and just to pass on the blame on the engineers.Later on the funds were used to allot on quarterly basis by the then Govt resulting in doubt whether the funds for planned works would be sanctioned or not and if so how much?.Every year the pre monsoon works should be planned and the canals should be desiltd and the banks should be strengthened.Likewise the pre monsoon works as written in rules should be taken up well in advance .During rainy season the patrols and watch men should be on duty with torch and weapons and some handy materials like sand bags ,boulders .sand ,pea gravel etc should be available to plug the breaches There should be also watch towers and hutments for chawkidars on such sites .Proper gauge register should be maintained of all the rivers and dams and reservoirs and there should be alarm system for evacuation on the down stream of the rivers and dams in case the level crosses the danger marks..The rivers training works should be taken up if we go on bracketing the river to save cities in that case the villages on the down stream are bound to be flooded.The Govt should take up the matter with Nepal Govt to save so many lives in Bihar and some projects to should be taken up so that lives and properties can be saved in future.Sanctioning of 1000 crores after so many casualties and loss can be avoided if the political will and the will of the public is created.