A family lives in a tent after their home was washed away by the Kosi floods in 2008 in Supaul. Telegraph picture

Bhagalpur, May 30: Chief minister Nitish Kumar’s assurance that he would try to convince the Prime Minister to revive the flood-prevention works on Kosi river has failed to assuage fears of the residents of the region, who suffered devastating floods in 2008.

Nitish on May 27 conducted an aerial survey of the flood-prevention works that were being carried out at Birpur in Supaul district. Nitish described the situation as grim.

“The central government should immediately persuade its Nepal counterpart to revive the flood-protection work to re-establish the central flow of the river and avoid undue pressure on the western and eastern embankments,” he said.

Nitish’s eagerness, however, has failed to assure the residents of the region who fear a repetition of the 2008-flood this time.

“The state’s water resources department has been trying to construct a much-needed pilot channel at the Kosi barrage at Bhimnagar for a long time. Even after the 2008 floods, they did not learn a lesson. Now, they have woken up to the gravity of the situation when monsoons are knocking on the door,” said Prakesh Kumar, a resident of Nawhatta block in Supaul.

The state water resources department had designed a proposal for a seven-km-long pilot channel in the downstream of the Kosi barrage, keeping in view the change in the course of the river and the subsequent pressure on the eastern embankment because of the siltation on the western side of the river.

Work for digging a pilot channel was initiated by the department on April 10 this year at Saptari district in Nepal. The estimated cost of the project was Rs 11 crore. It was aimed to reduce the pressure of the water on the eastern embankment as well as to regulate the water flow equally on both sides.

The Nepal government, however, stopped the project in a few days, as they feared the flood-prevention work would inundate Gobargarha and other villages in the district.

Sources, however, said the villages are located at high altitudes in the Himalayan territory and would hardly be affected by the floods.

“We hope Nitish Kumar’s initiative will help to resume the work. Else, the 20-km length of the eastern embankment of the Kosi barrage on the Indian side will face tremendous pressure,” said Chandra Shekhar Prasad, the chief engineer of the water resources department at Birpur.

Another engineer, on condition of anonymity, said the department had managed to save the embankment from the 5km point to the 25km point of the barrage last year.

“This time, however, if there is any breach in the embankment, no one would be able to save Supaul and its neighbouring districts. Even delay of a single day would prove fatal,” the engineer claimed.

State water resources minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, who visited Birpur on May 22, directed the engineers to take alternative measures for the protection of the embankments.

“We hope Nitishji’s efforts will help restore the flood-protection work soon,” he said.

Sources said digging sand from the waterbeds of the river has been initiated but the success of such measures is doubtful.

“Frequent rains that the area has witnessed for the past two weeks and the heavy discharge of water from the Nepal side have posed a threat to the digging work. Besides, the monsoon which is likely to set in soon will compound the problem,” said Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Supaul.

An engineer of the state water resources department said around two weeks back the pressure of the water was at its highest at 81.75-km-point on the eastern embankment. He added heavy land erosion has been taking place on that embankment near the old Devan Van temple.