Re-divert Koshi during Jan-March, expert says

BY THIRA L BHUSAL
KATHMANDU, Oct 1



Head of the technical committee constituted by the Bihar Government, Nilendu Sanyal Tuesday suggested topping water resource officials from Nepal and India to turn the Saptakoshi River back to its original course and plug the breached embankment between January and March when the water level falls.

During a briefing to Nepali and Indian Water Resource Secretaries, Indian envoy Rakesh Sood and other senior officials who visited the breached embankment site at Western Kushaha and adjoining areas, Sanyal suggested that every structure should be kept in a ready position beforehand but the river should be diverted back only between January and March.

Sanyal, a retired Engineer-in-Chief of the Water Resources Department of Bihar, was part of the team of engineers during the Koshi Barrage construction 47 years ago.

After arriving in the capital from an inspection of the site, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources Shital Babu Regmi said that visiting officials from both countries listened carefully to what Sanyal had to say as he has thorough knowledge about the nature of Koshi.
Water discharge level in the Koshi during the three month period would be around 10,000 to 11,000 cusecs.

The Bihar government assigned the octogenarian Sanyal to manage the work on restoring the Koshi and plug the breach in the embankment.

The Koshi burst its embankment on August 18 and displaced more than 35,000 people in Nepal besides affecting around 2.5 million people in Bihar state of neighbouring India.

Water Resource Secretaries from Nepal and India Shankar Prasad Koirala and Umesh Narayan Panjiyar, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood and joint secretaries among other experts and engineers from both sides had gone to Sunsari to inspect the embankment breached by Koshi.

Senior government officials from both countries reached the site as a part of three-day secretary-level bilateral talks, which started on Monday. The issue of the Koshi was one of the major agenda items during the talks.

THE KATHMANDU POST