THE KOSI PROJECT: A Note on Myopia and Mismanagement

Contrary to popular Nepali perception, the Kosi Project may have proved to be a nightmare for those who live within the embankment area.

The Kosi floods of July 1991 have again highlighted the lack of consensus in Nepal and India over issues of common concern. In Nepal, news reports that a 400 metre breach in the western embankment at Hanuman Nagar had displaced 50,000 people in 12 villages in Saptari district, was followed with veiled insinuations that India was responsible for the calamity, and should, therefore, deal with it. Interestingly, the Nepali papers did not mention that 150,000 people in Saharsa and Madhubani districts of Bihar had also lost their homes in the same deluge.

The Kosi has been a focus of geo-political posturing by the two countries. India has maintained that Nepal has stymied all attempts at an exhaustive solution of the problems, while Nepal has argued that India has creamed away the benefits of the Kosi Project to the detriment of Nepal. It is our contention that the floods this year point to a deep-rooted malaise which will deteriorate rapidly if it is not addressed urgently. Focussing on an inter-related set of issues, this note aims at dispelling some of the prevailing misconceptions about the supposed 'benefits' of the Kosi Project to India, in the hope that it might promote a more comprehensive understanding of the issues.