Water Resources Ministry’s Horrifying Decision
DEVASTATION OF KOSI PROJECT POTENTIAL
AB Thapa
Two prime-ministers, one of them the present Prime Minister of Nepal Mr. G. P. Koirala, had signed an agreement to conduct detailed feasibility study of the Kosi dam project which is expected to be one of the largest multipurpose water resources projects in the whole world. The project is considered indispensable to save the life and property of millions in Nepal, India and also Bangladesh. It is also proposed to provide as a component of this giant project a navigation canal linking Nepal with the Ganges waterway. Such canal will help to connect our country with the seaport. The project is expected to provide enormously large irrigation and power benefits also.
Unfortunately our Ministry of Water Resources does not seem to realize the extent of the damage to entire nation if the Kosi dam project is not handled with great care. At present one wing of the Ministry of Water Resources and Indian experts have started to conduct jointly the detailed study of the Kosi project. At this very time to the great horror of everybody another wing of the same Water Resources Ministry without the slightest hesitation is busy to devastate the proposed Kosi dam project by allowing a private developer to conduct detailed feasibility study to implement the Lower Arun Project. Ministry of Water Resources knows perfectly well that the Kosi Dam Project and the Lower Arun Project are mutually exclusive.
Lower Arun Construction will begion from This Year
It is reported in “ kantipur “ daily dated January 6, 2008 that a Brazilian Company BRASS POWER is going to start within this year the construction of the Lower Arun Project. The news has stunned everybody genuinely concerned for the development of our country’s water resources in the interest of our people. It is a well established fact that after the construction of the Lower Arun Project it would not be possible to implement the Kosi High Dam project which is considered indispensable to save the life and property of millions living in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. The Lower Arun Project hydropower will be completely submerged in the storage reservoir if we decide to implement the Kosi dam project based on the original concept of this project developed by India with the assistance of British experts more than half century ago. Moreover, it now appears based on detailed studies of other Himalayan mega-hydropower projects such as the Karnali and Panchesgwor high dam projects that the scale of the Kosi high dam project would be far bigger than the one proposed by India a long time ago. The ultimate size of the Kosi high dam project is yet to be decided. So it is going to be an insane decision if we plan to implement the Lower Arun Project before finalizing the ultimate scope of the Kosi dam project.
Why Kosi Dam Project Needed?
The generation of abundant and cheap electricity for domestic use and export, provision of year round irrigation in eleven out of 18 Terai districts and opening a canal waterway to link Nepal with the seaport are the benefits from the Kosi development. These benefits are very significant for Nepal yet the overriding factor in placing the Kosi development at the top on the list of priorities is the flood control.
The Kosi flood problem requires immediate attention. It is explained here why this problem has become so critical.
South Asia in Grave Danger of Devastating Kosi Floods
The Kosi river known as the river of sorrow of the Bihar shifted from east to west over 12O km in the last 200 years. In the past about 10,000 sq. km. of lands have been laid waste as a result of the sand deposit. In course of shifting, many towns and villages were wiped out, and heavy losses of property, cattle, and human life were inflicted. Fortunately the embankments built few decades ago temporarily helped to check the lateral shifting of the Kosi. But at present the detention basin upstream of the barrage at Hanumannagar is almost full of sediments. Soon the embankments would be ineffective to control the Kosi floods.
The Kosi river is now on the verge of shifting to the east far away from its present course. The peoples of Nepal, India and Bangladesh are heading for a natural disaster of an unprecedented scale. It would be unfortunate if the Kosi swing to the east takes the life and property of millions in South Asia by surprise while the rest of the world will merely be silent spectator.
Solution to Kosi Flood Problem
Solutions to the Kosi floods problem should be quickly found. All the works needed for the flood protection should be completed in time.
Provision of dams in the drainage area with very big storage volume is the only lasting solution to the Kosi flood problem. It is the opinion of the renowned experts and scientists involved on the Kosi study in the past. We can draw such lesson from the past experience of China also. It can be concluded that there are not any substitutes for the large storage dams to control the Kosi floods. Thus our only recourse is storage dam. The storage dams should be provided in time. Unfortunately some peoples in Nepal and India have misgivings about the Kosi dams. Such misgivings are unfounded and they are often the result of present global disenchantment with the high dams particularly for the generation of hydroelectricity. In case of the Kosi dams this type of notion is completely misplaced. The life and property of too many peoples in Nepal and India would be at great risk if the Kosi dams are not built in time. Those who have in their mind other ideas should come forward and offer their own solution to resolve the Kosi flood problem.
The Kosi Dam Highest in the World
A study of the Kosi dam was taken up by India in 1946. The concrete dam proposed at that time with a height of 269 m was to be the highest in the world. The great Hoover dam in the United States with a height of mere 221 m was then the highest. Even to this date there is only one concrete dam higher than 269 m. This is the 285 m high Grand Dixene dam in Switzerland.
At present abundant information are available on planning storage reservoirs in Himalayan region for flood control. The most suitable example for the Kosi planning could be the Karnali feasibility study. If the Karnali reservoir planning criterion is applied then the height of the Kosi dam would be almost close to the height of the Rogun dam presently under construction in the former Soviet Union. At present the 335 m high Rogun dam is the highest in the world. A comparison of the Karnali and the Kosi dams could be as given below:
River |
Dam Height (m) |
Total Storage (billion cm) |
Flood Storage (billion cm) |
Dead Storage (billion cm) |
Karnali |
270 |
39 |
11 |
12 |
Kosi |
~ 335 |
36 |
7 |
9 |
|
The Kosi high dam project is going to be one of the largest projects undertaken so far in the world. So it will be a very big engineering challenge. We should beware of unintentional give-away in Kosi development. The optimum Kosi development should not be compromised. A less than optimum dam could preclude optimum development of the Kosi river for all time. It could deprive the peoples in India and Nepal long lasting flood relief.
Kosi Navigation Canal will link Nepal with Seaport
Nepal is a landlocked country. The Kosi navigation canal linking Nepal with the seaport, needless to say, is the most important project for landlocked Nepal. The Kosi waterway could provide an immense opportunity for speedy economic development of our country as a whole.
India and Nepal have agreed to carry out feasibility study of the Kosi navigation canal linking Nepal with the Ganges. It is understood that such navigation canal will be close to Class 1 waterway of Europe in size (Kosi navigation canal, WECS - AB Thapa). In future detailed study we should not compromise on size of the canal. If the canal size is diminished then the inland water transportation will not have advantage over other modes of the transportation
Inland Water Transportation is the Cheapest
The coefficient of friction on water is very small. One horse power can pull 4,000 kg on water while on road and rail, it can move only 150 kg and 500 kg respectively. In the countries in Europe and America the inland water transport has established itself as the cheapest mode of transportation. In the USA, where various modes of transportation freely competing with one another are equally developed the inland water transport has been found to be 5 times cheaper than the railway transportation and 21 times cheaper than the road transportation.
The USA had about 25000 miles of internal commercial navigable channels in 1968, of which 15000 miles provided operating depths of nine feet or more. The nine-foot draft is considered standard for barge and towing industry operations in the USA. In 1966 about 490 million tons of freight was carried by all kinds of river ships in the USA.
An Unified European Network was agreed with regard to the whole of Europe that category IV waterways should be the standard link between river basins. This category should be able to accommodate 1350-1500 ton vessels. The locks should have a minimum depth of 3.5 m over the sill. At present Government of India has also adopted the European standard in planning the locks and navigation channels of the Faracca barrage.
A comparative study of inland water transport cost for small rivers vis-à-vis road transportation cost on region-wise basis made in the former USSR shows that by comparison with inland water transportation the road transportation was almost 10 times costly in Kuibshev region. It is about 4 times expensive in Moscow region.
In 1967 some 450 million tons of the cargoes were carried by all kinds of river-ships in the former Soviet Union.
It is presented in a report published very recently by the Government of Bangladesh that the volume of freight carried by water in Bangladesh stands at approximately 56 million ton/year. The water transportation charges are said to be less than 10% of the corresponding charges by road or railway.
According to a study conducted on behalf of the German State Railway to move one ton of goods in Germany one kilometer, it costs 14 pfenings by rail and 29 pfenings by road, but just 4 pfenings by inland waterway. It shows that the inland water transportation is the cheapest by comparison with other modes of transportation.
In Conclusion
It is unfortunate that at present our Government appears to be completely ignorant of the vast potential of the Kosi dam projects. However, we should hope that the Water Resources Ministry will immediately decide to drop the plan to implement the Lower Arun Project.
There is a need for various governmental and nongovernmental agencies, academic institutions, and research organizations to take part in solving different technical, economical, social and other problems expected to arise in course of planning and execution of the Kosi projects. There should be country wide debates on Kosi problems to reach consensus on various important issues. Whenever the need arises, noted scientists from any other part of the world should be invited to give their opinion on problems that concern the Kosi projects. Some time consuming research works particularly in the technical field should be taken up in advance in anticipation of the future problems. In developed countries such research works are usually done by universities and other academic institutions. They are very important source of funding for the educational institutions.
