Jiba Raj Pokharel

The flood that occurred in Chamoli, India a few weeks ago has sent a chill down the spine of all the students of Flood Disaster Risk Reduction around the globe. It has been a wake-up call for a country like Nepal which has several glaciers in its upstream. Unfortunately, the reminder that nature serves it time and again fall on the deaf ears of both Nepal and India. Consequently, these countries suffer a heavy loss of life and property now and then in the aftermath of such disasters.
Floods often create tensions between India and Nepal who have been otherwise enjoying a very good relationship since time immemorial. India has constructed a bund in the Indo-Nepal Border for the construction of the roads which blocks the movement of water downstream. It creates a flood in Nepal while the adjoining area of India remains virtually dry.
This is not the first time that India has fallen victim to such disasters. In the year 2013, Kedarnath Temple was swept away by a flood that claimed the lives of 3000 people. Thousands of innocent souls went missing after the disaster. The implementation of environment unfriendly projects has been held responsible for this state of affair.
The people of Chamoli had also filed a petition against the illegal stone quarrying as well as blasting in the supreme court. The Supreme Court directed the district magistrate to submit a report. But nothing significant happened following it. Instead, so many Projects, some 83 dams are slated for construction in such an ecologically fragile area.
In Nepal also the story is not much different. The glacier lake outburst flood caused considerable damage on 24 occasions in the past. The most notable were the Bhote Kosi Sun Kosi Glacial Lake Outburst Flood of 1964 and 1985 as well as that of Dig Sho Glob of 1985. But it has not attracted the attention of the Government even today.

Possible Causes
Climate change has been widely accepted as the main factor for triggering such untimely floods. The International Center for Integrated Mountain Development has long been parroting that about 36 per cent of the glaciers will disappear by 2100 even if the global temperature is maintained at 1. 5-degree centigrade which appears almost impossible given the indifference shown by several countries about climate change. This will take place due to the melting of glaciers. A study has shown that glacial melting has doubled since 2000 compared to 1975-2000.

Conventional Flood
If this is the state of the glacial lake outburst flood, the incidence of the conventional flood is also very scary. Many people lose their life and property all-round the globe due to the flood that occurs every year. Flood is a difficult customer compared to all the other disasters. Krishna's Haridwar was also marooned in flood. So was the Alexandria of the great Plato, the philosopher of Greece. In the Bible also, God gave a curse of deluge instead of fire, an earthquake in which everyone except Noah died.
In Nepal also many people die because of the flood. In the year 2017-2018 alone, the numbers of people who died due to floods were 183. A total of 894 persons had died due to disasters in that year. The loss of property is simply staggering. The number of missing persons is also very high.

Indigenous Knowledge
The application of indigenous knowledge can be very handy in certain circumstances. Chanakya, that polymath of the first water, had written in the fourth century BC that the cities should have water bodies inside them. This can be seen in the form of several ponds in the city of Kathmandu Valley. Lubhu had eight ponds. Chapagaon had nine. But all these ponds have been filled for creating land that can be used for several purposes including building.
In Madhesh, ponds can be seen in plenty. Janakpur is a glaring example that has so many ponds that it is also known as the city of ponds. Even in the hills, ponds can be seen which are known as ahals. These are used for feeding water to the cattle. The buffaloes also take a dip in such ponds in the summer.
The presence of water bodies provides a cushion whereby the flood does not manifest as quickly as the rainwater gets deposited in the ponds. Due to high evaporation in the summer, the ponds do not generally overflow despite heavy rain in quick intervals.
These ponds prevent flood. On the other hand, it also leads to rain harvesting which can be used in the time of the fire. It can also be used for other purposes like washing clothes, feeding the cattle and so on.

Chinese, Japanese Experience
The construction of the levees and the canals for the storage of water and irrigation was a common practice in the past in both Japan and China. Kenzo Tange used this principle in the preparation of the masterplan for Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.
As his birthplace was flooded by two rivers, Harhara and Teller, this principle of using levees and canals was used. These rivers used to deposit so much sediment, that the Ashoka pillar's upper part was visible like the tip of an iceberg when it was first spotted by Khadga Shamsher and German Archaeologist Dr Alois Fuhrer.
The Ashok Pillar and the inscription mentioning the birth of Buddha was found after excavating the deposited sediment.

Ponds For Preventing Floods
It has been found that the flood can be prevented if 0.5 per cent of the land is retained as ponds. In fact, in Nepal, the rain falls on the hills and the mountains which advance towards the rivulets. Rivulets lead to rivers which later join to larger rivers called the Koshish in Nepal.
If the ponds are constructed in the hills, the rainwater is confined to them leading to lesser amounts of water reaching the rivulets. As a result, there is lesser water flowing in the river and Koshish with the result that there is no undue flood.
The construction of the ponds is forty times more profitable than the plantation of rice. It is because the fish is twenty times costlier than rice and its production is double than that of rice per hectare.
It thus brings profit not only to the landowner but also to the local Government in the form of taxes. It thus creates a win/win situation for all the stakeholders.
The flood can be a very devastating disaster in the days to come. It is because climate change-induced global warming leads to heavy rainfall ultimately leading to massive floods.
It has already brought havoc in Western Europe. The other places have also fallen prey to this disaster. But the solutions are not that complicated. The twin solutions are sensitivity to climate change and the application of indigenous technology like the construction of ponds.

(Pokhrel is former vice chancellor of NAST)