‘Everybody loves a good flood’: the political and social transformation of the eastern Tarai (Nepal) through flood control infrastructures

Abstract

The Koshi, one of the biggest tributaries of the Ganges River, has been renowned for centuries for its erratic behaviour and destructive flooding of the Indo-Nepalese plain. Based on the Tennessee Valley Authority model’s success and in order to develop the region, the river was totally dammed in 1959, radically transforming the way local communities relate to water in the wetlands of the Koshi plain. Since then, embankments have been built extensively in this plain both in India and Nepal. Devastating incidents, such as the spectacular disaster in 2008, are still vivid in inhabitants’ memories. Despite a questioning of the himalayan region’s management paradigm, the model continues to be applied extensively, with gradual development having recently been achieved in Nepal on secondary rivers in the Tarai plain. This article sets out to analyse the impact of this programme of embanking Koshi affluents in the villages of Tilathi and Narsingh, on the right and the left banks of the Koshi respectively. It shows that in recent decades, floods have become more frequent, often prolonging water removal time, and that the causes of floods are multiplying. These two case studies are emblematic of a demonstration of how floods are transformed into socio-environmental disasters and are vital for studying the structural dimensions of who wins and who loses in this new water-balance configuration where areas are exposed or protected.

Keywords

• corruption
• flood control
• dike
• disaster
• Nepalese Tarai
• Madheshi