Banking on national embankment policy

Paucity of funds has made maintenance of embankments of the Brahmaputra, Barak and their tributaries a herculean task for the Assam government. The solution may be found in framing of a comprehensive National Embankment Policy, as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Water Resources. The persistent stand of the Ministry of Jal Shakti is that flood management, including erosion control falls within the purview of the States and flood management and anti-erosion projects are formulated and implemented by concerned State Governments in accordance with their priorities. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical guidance and promotional financial assistance for management of floods in critical areas, states a report of the parliamentary panel. The Ministry acknowledges the importance of maintenance of the embankments and is of the view that embankments as any other civil structures require proper upkeep and regular maintenance for serving the intended purpose. Regular review meetings are held with State Government Officers to sensitize about the issue of upkeep and maintenance of embankments in States. Normally, State Government carries out pre-monsoon and post-monsoon repairs and maintenance of embankments as per their approved protocol. However, paucity of funds is normally cited as the main reason by States for not maintaining the embankments as per requirement, states the Department of Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation when the parliamentary panel asked about the proposal to frame a National Embankment Policy in view the limitations of embankments in controlling the impacts of floods due to frequent breach of embankments. The Central Government department, however, clarifies that there is no proposal under its consideration to provide financial assistance to the States for upkeep and maintenance of embankments. The committee expressed the view that the river embankments if properly maintained, may play an important role in minimising the devastating impact of floods and, therefore, urged the Department "to review their stated policy / position and explore ways and means to frame a comprehensive national embankment policy" specifying protocols, Standard Operating Procedure required to be followed scrupulously for reinforcement of the riverbanks. The Committee also suggested that the department should make arrangement for providing financial assistance to the needy States to upkeep the embankments. Official data show that of the total 423 river embankments in Assam, 295 have outlived their span and are prone to breaches. With about 4,000 km length of total 4,474 km of embankments in dilapidated condition, annual repair and maintenance are often cosmetic due to insufficient fund and a disaster worse than experienced in the past is wating to happen. This makes Assam the most eligible candidate to receive adequate financial assistance from the central government for strengthening its embankments. Assam Budget for 2022-23 highlights that during the last five years, the state Water Resources Department has taken up more than 200 schemes under NABARD, focusing on flood, erosion management and infrastructure development amounting to around Rs. 700 Crores. Under the Assam Integrated River Basin ManagementProject, an amount of Rs. 900 Crore will be utilized for river basin planning of prioritized and identified tributaries of Brahmaputra and Barak with assistance from the Central Government and the World Bank. The project envisages strengthening institutional capacity for water resources planning and management, build the knowledge base for informed decision making and reduce vulnerability to flood and erosion risks in Assam. The embankments need to be raised or repaired well ahead of every monsoon to withstand highest flood level and protect these from breach. Even during monsoon, quick repair of breaches is required to reduce devastation during the subsequent waves of flood. Most embankments in the state also serving as roads, any breach in embankment also snaps vital road communicationswhich leaves a cascading impact on the state economy.Apart from increased amount, flow of fund for flood management projects is critical to achieving desired objectives and time overruns often lead to faster deterioration of embankment condition for want of timely repair and strengthening works. Audit inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India there was shortfall of central assistance by 60 %and non-release of state share by 84 % in respect of 140 projects involving over a period of eight years from 2007-08 to 2015-16. Rush of expenditure at the fag end of the financial year is another perpetual problem which adds to the problem in perpetuity. As the state continues to grapple with ravaging waves of floods, failure to undertake timely repair and strengthening of embankments have made more people vulnerable to loss of life, property, crop damage besides loss of livelihood. The parliamentary panel's recommendation has triggered hopes for flood-ravaged state like Assam to lobby for adequate central assistance for strengthening all embankments to reduce flood-induced losses to the state economy. Assam can take the lead in lobbying for a comprehensive National Embankment Policy.