Sorrow Of Rupandehi
DANDA River has turned into a sorrow of
Rupandehi district, because India has constructed a 2.5 kilometre barrage running parallel
to the border. As many as 18 Village Development Committees of the district have been
inundated causing a lot of hardship to the villagers. Pictures of flooded villages are
appearing regularly in newspapers. Monsoon is the season when Nepal’s rivers are in
spate and in many parts of Nepal swollen rivers and streams wreak havoc. But Rupandehi
people’s agony seems to be chiefly aggravated by that physical structure which has
blocked the natural flow of the river. The government, it appears, has taken note of it
and moving to address the issue. Minister for Water Resources Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar
informed the House of Representatives Wednesday that a joint task force of Nepal and India
would make an on-the-spot inspection within a few days of the Rassiyal-Khurda-Lautan
barrage constructed just 200 metres south of the Nepal-India border. A high-level Nepalese
technical committee is already at the site to study the effects of the barrage on the
Nepalese side to submit a report within 10 days.
The controversial barrage is a typical
example of how constructions downstream affect the riverine settlements upstream in Nepal
and how the two countries need to consult closely before such projects are formulated.
According to Minister Gachchhadar, the two countries had agreed to make an inspection of
the site and submit a joint report when the Indo-Nepal Standing Committee on Inundation
Problems met early this year. Inexplicably, India ignored the agreement later and had gone
ahead with the construction. The result is there for all to see as a large swathe of
Rupandehi has turned into a lake. If the current monsoon ferocity continues, even greater
adversity could befall Rupandehi. It behoves on India, therefore, to take cognisance of
the Rupandehi people’s suffering and immediately stop the construction of the barrage
pending the proposed inspection of the area by a joint task force. There are unverified
reports that it has done so, but it is not clear whether it is due to the ongoing monsoon
or in response to the unnatural Rupandehi flooding. Actually, it is not only the villages
on the Nepal side that are submerged, but some villages on the Indian side are also said
to be affected. To mitigate the suffering all around, the two sides should make that joint
inspection without any delay and solve the crisis so that at least this year’s
devastation is not repeated next year.
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