Kathmandu, Sept. 2

The Indian government should own responsibility of the tragedy that ensued following the flooding of the VDCs in Sunsari in eastern Nepal and must bear the burden of repairing the embankment in the Koshi barrage as per the agreement signed between the governments of Nepal and India.

The causes of havoc was also linked with the misunderstandings between the central government of India and the Bihar state government, and the rampant corruption prevailing in the Bihar state, water resources expert Rameshwor Man Amatya said at an interaction Tuesday.

He said that India should provide proper compensations to the flood victims and other concerned, as the country, which has the responsibility to protect and repair embankments and spurs, and the entire Barrage, neglected the serious bilateral and humanitarian issue.

"It happened because of the concerned Indian authorities’ negligence. They used sub standard materials while repairing and protecting the embankments or did not use sufficient materials during the protection process because of the lack of transparency in the Bihar State’s governance system." he argued.

As per the survey and suggestion of Indian expert A.N. Khasla, the Koshi Barrage should have been constructed near the Chatara area. But the construction site was shifted to Indian border or Indian territory to have India’s monopoly in the operation process of the Barrage, as per the suggestion made by another Indian expert Dr. K.L. Raut, which was technically wrong, he argued.

The lack of effective functioning of India-Nepal Commission which was formed to monitor the barrage operation process, collect information and provide suggestions to the concerned authorities to address the problems, was another cause behind this disaster.

When asked about the responsibilities of the Nepal Government, Amatya said it failed to initiate diplomatic effort with the Indian government on time to repair and protect embankments and spurs to avoid probable disasters.

He suggested for the construction of Sunkoshi diversion dam and other dams in Arun and Tamor to stop peak time flood, especially the floods of August and September.

He also indicated that there should be proper control of sedimentation of slit created by Koshi River as it is considered one of the rivers, which carries maximum silts.

He said that there should be thorough review of different unequal agreements and treaties signed between Nepal and India, and those treaties, which are against the national interest, should be scrapped. "If the Indian counterpart does not agree to do so, Nepal should file a case in the International Court."