Water Crisis in Bihar – A Man made disaster

Bihar has rivers flowing through it, and it adds to its beauty. The same beauty becomes its most significant trouble when rivers change course and bring the flood. We all are well accustomed to the conditions that prevail in Bihar and Assam due to floods, almost every year, or in alternate years.

The most astonishing thing is that the land of Bihar also faces a water crisis. Often people wait for monsoon instead of getting fed up with excess water. In both ways, crops are destroyed, and people face issues that take a long time to get back to normal.

In Bihar, women, and children walk a lot and wait for hours in a queue to get water. This leads to quarrels, and often there are reports of clashes.

People often have protested the issue with demonstrations, but one cannot see any result. The problem persists, and solutions also look far off.

The problem is not just limited to humans. Animals, too, are facing the issue. Often deer are seen roaming around the villages in search of water.

This problem has caused troubles to cattle too. They are also struggling to survive in the land of Bihar. About 280 blocks spanning over 25 districts are facing acute water issues.

If we take up Gaya’s case, then we will see that bore wells and taps fail regularly. The people of Gaya are dependent on water tankers. It is water tankers that are saving their lives in bits and pieces.

But we all know that these are not long term solutions. There has to be something that is more sustainable and that which can be done with minimal cost.

In Gaya, the situation is so bad that some people have left and gone to places that are relatively wet or have moved back to their native villages. In this region, the river Falgu has lost a lot of water and has gone down in height by 60 feet.

Naturally, the place was bound to suffer from water shortage, and so it is. It has been reported that the river had lessened in height by 30ft first, and then the following year, it dropped again by 30ft.

Darbhanga also faces the same issue, and it may be like Gaya if mitigation steps don’t start to work. Thankfully, a few teams have been established to survey ponds present in and around the area.

For construction, there are numerous cases of ponds drying up through dredging or leveling. This has led to the receding of the groundwater table.
Overall, the situation is worsening, and it may not be apparent on the surface.

Many people live in the comforts of their homes, and the issue does not affect them. But there is a section of people who are directly getting affected by this water crisis, and even children have to wait in the queue to get hold of clean water.

This is just about Bihar. There are many regions in India facing this issue. We shall talk about each of them to bring awareness to the situation.