Kharif Crops Destroyed in Bihar

• 21 Aug 2024

Why in News?

According to the sources, Farmers in northern Bihar are facing severe crop damage due to unexpected late-season floods that have submerged thousands of acres of standing crops, including paddy and vegetables.

Key Points

• Floodwaters have spread across hundreds of villages in districts like Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Madhubani, and Bhagalpur, submerging vast stretches of farmland.
  • The rising water levels in the Kosi and Ganga rivers, as well as the Burhi Gandak and Gandak rivers, have caused significant flooding and crop damage.
• The floods have displaced many people, forcing them to live in isolated villages cut off from nearby markets and offices.
  • Also caused a shortage of both green and dry fodder for animals, further exacerbating the hardship faced by affected communities.
• Despite the widespread destruction there is a lack of response from Bihar Disaster Management Department.
• Flooding is not a new phenomenon in Bihar, affecting thousands of people annually, particularly in the Ganga, Kosi, Gandak, Bagmati, and Mahananda river basins.
  • Bihar is the most flood-prone state in India, with around 6.88 million hectares of the state's total area of 9.41 million hectares classified as vulnerable to flooding.

Flood

• It is an overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Floods can happen during heavy rains, when ocean waves come on shore, when snow melts quickly, or when dams or levees break.
• Damaging flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. Floods can occur within minutes or over a long period, and may last days, weeks, or longer. Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather-related natural disasters.
• Flash floods are the most dangerous kind of floods, because they combine the destructive power of a flood with incredible speed.
  • Flash floods occur when heavy rainfall exceeds the ability of the ground to absorb it.
  • They also occur when water fills normally dry creeks or streams or enough water accumulates for streams to overtop their banks, causing rapid rises of water in a short amount of time.
  • They can happen within minutes of the causative rainfall, limiting the time available to warn and protect the public.