Madhubani District

Creating community leaders to tackle disaster
Under UNICEF’s initiative to mitigate disaster risk, community leaders are created to make villages disaster ready. Posted on 25 Jun, 2018 05:01 PM

Tired from the Baidyanath dhamyatra (pilgrimage) in the nearby town of Deoghar, Nunlal Kamath is stealing a quick nap on a charpoy outside his house. His house is right on the western bank of Kosi, north Bihar’s river of sorrow, in a particularly flood-prone area where there are no high grounds or flood platforms nearby.  

Village disaster management committee has built sand and boulder spurs to deflect floods at spots where bank erosion takes place. (Pic courtesy: GEAG)
Knowing Kamla’s sorrow could control Bihar floods
The floodplains of Bihar have an excellent natural flood control and irrigation system in place. Why is the government ignoring it at the cost of lives and livelihoods? Posted on 08 Jun, 2016 07:41 PM

“When I was a boy, a family and their livestock could feed on just one crop for three years,” says Jugal Mandal of Sakhwar village in Darbhanga district. “For the last five years though, the village fields have been fallow because we have not had water,” he adds.

A young girl leads her buffaloes in search of water
The benevolence of a flood
Floods are generally considered damaging but this story is one where the farmers of Bihar willingly invited a flood to bless their fields! Posted on 18 Sep, 2014 10:10 AM

Bihar is no stranger to floods. The high-volume, high-velocity floods caused by large infrastructure projects regularly disrupt lives and decimate entire villages. This is the oft-repeated narrative, one of a helpless population as victims.

People of Laksena watch over their temporary dam
Engineering witchcraft in Bihar
The Bhutahi Balan, a tributary of the Kosi may be a small river but it has caused immense devastation. Dinesh Mishra says that embankments aren't the answer to this problem. Posted on 09 Feb, 2014 07:46 PM

It's been years since Bhutahi Balan, a small tributary of the Kosi river in Madhubani, North Bihar, has been causing devastation on both its banks. Dinesh Mishra in his book 'Story of a ghost river and engineering witchcraft' objectively analyses the failure of embankments, which are raised banks to contain the river's flooding.

Devastation due to floods
District-wise details on 2007 Bihar floods from local NGOs
The overall situation in north Bihar is grim. In all the five districts where NGOs work, severe flood have been reported Posted on 06 Aug, 2007 08:30 PM

Notes on flood situation district-wise in Khagaria, Sahasra, Supaul, Madhubani, and West Champaran districts of Bihar.These were compiled by the Megh Pyne Abhiyan, a network of NGOs in North Bihar. (Due to the difficulty of the ground situation some inaccuracies may be present)

×