Flood prevention needs ecological approach.

This forum deals with floods in Nepal, India and Bangladesh each having different terrain and ecological settings. The very fact that now such floods occur at regular intervals with damages in large area in each country, we need to apply ecological approach to prevention of floods and control adverse impacts from floods. The mountainous regions (mainly in flood prone area in Nepal), the semi-arid plains of India (Bihar) and reverine plains of Bangladesh require different approach leading to different solutions. At the same time, society (and the respective Governments) needs to widen it's vision with respect to flood to develop a medium to long term approach. 

For Bihar plains, I can give a small example (in brief) of how this correction process can be started - in the flood affected zone all investments on road infrastructure needs to be diverted to a designed canal network linked to major rivers and also invest in canal based transportation (goods and passenger boats). When we build roads people invest in motor vehicles and when we invest in canals (and water ways) people invest in boats. Canal networks shall help quick drainage of surplus water and large number of boats shall help saving people, cattle and life stock resulting minimisation of damages. In order to put this in shape on ground a lot of detailed planning has to be done by creating special purpose vehicle by involving experts who are ready to take the work as a challenge as in the case `water in Singapore' a city state who had earlier survived on water imported from Malayasia but not virtually bringing water import to near zero.

Subir Paul, Environment Planner.