The Nature of flood Problem in Various River Basins

Brahmaputra River Regions

The predominant problem in this region is the flooding caused by spilling of rivers over their banks, drainage congestion and tendency of some of the rivers to change their courses. In recent years, the erosion along the banks of the Brahmaputra has assumed serious proportions. The region is subject to severe and frequent earthquake, which cause numerous landslides in the hills and upset the regime of the rivers.

Considering the individual states in the regions, the flood problem is acute in Assam where the inundation is caused by over bank spillage along the Brahmaputra, the Break and their tributaries. Besides bank erosion in northern portions of West Bengal, the rivers Tista, Torsa, Jaldhaka and Mahananda are in floods every year and inundate large areas.

These rivers also carry considerable amount of site and have a tendency to change their courses. The rivers in Manipur spill over their banks frequently. The lakes in the territory get filled up during the monsoon and spread over large marginal areas. In Tripura, there are problems of spilling and erosion by rivers.

Ganga River Region

The flood problem is mostly confined to the areas on the northern bank of the River Ganga. The damage is caused by the northern tributaries of the Ganga like Kosi, Gangak etc. which spill over their banks and often change their course.

In Uttar Pradesh the flooding is frequent in the eastern districts, mainly due to spilling of Rapti, the Sharada, the Ghaghra and the Gandak. The problem of drainage congestion exists in the western and north- western areas of Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Agra, Mathura and Meerut districts. The erosion is experienced in some on the left bank of Ganga and on right banks of the Ghaghra and the Gandak.

In Bihar, the floods are largely confined to the rivers of North Bihar and are, more or less, an annual feature. The rivers such of the Adhware Group, the Kosi in the lower reaches and the Mahananda spill over their banks causing considerable damage to crops and dislocation of traffic.
In South and Central West Bengal, the Mahananda, the Bhagirathi, the Ajay, the Damodar etc. cause flooding due to the inadequate capacity of river channels and tidal effect. There is also the problem of erosion of the banks of some of the rivers and on the left right banks of Ganga upstream and downstream respectively of the Farakka Barrage.

In Haryana, flooding takes places in the marginal areas along the Yamuna and the problem of poor drainage exists in some of the south- western districts. In Delhi a small area along the banks of the Yamuna is subject to flooding by river spills. In addition local drainage congestion is experienced in some of the development colonies during heavy rains. In Rajasthan, in addition to the flooding caused by heavy spells of rainfall in certain years, drainage congestion is experienced along Pahari- Kava drain.

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