It is believed that when the case of prioritisation of projects was being considered by Pandit Nehru due to fund constraints, Pratap Singh Kairon turned out to be more convincing than Srikrishna Singh, and therefore Bhakra Nagal Project was taken up in preference to Barahkshetra.  Bihar lost its race to Punjab in becoming the granary of the country.  The long term consequence of that one decision is more telling — from being among the top three states of the country in terms of per capita income and administration in the early ‘50s, Bihar has languished at the bottom of the ladder for decades.  We need to understand why a serious effort has not been made to address the issues.  The financial losses caused due to recurring devastation, coupled with the hundreds of crores of rupees spent on embankments year after year, would easily set aside the financial problem theory.  Even though the immediate cause of the present disaster is the negative approach of the Nepal government, in that it allowed (or encouraged?) local resistance to the repair work that was being attempted by Bihar engineers to plug the breach at Kusaha in Nepal, relations have been sufficiently cordial, so as not to frustrate a project that would benefit both countries. 

Of the Himalayan component of the National Perspective Plan prepared by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), 6 river links are directly related to Bihar.  These are Kosi-Mechi, Kosi-Ghagra, Chunar-Sone Barrage, Sone Dam — Southern tributaries of Ganga, Gandak-Ganga and the Brahmaputra-Ganga (Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga) link canal.  As part of the project, a multi-purpose high dam across river Kosi is proposed near the village Barahkshetra in Nepal.  Besides the high dam, a barrage across Kosi river is also planned near village Chatra, 10-12 km below the dam, to transfer water to Mechi river through the Kosi-Mechi link canal.  The Barahkshetra dam, the Chatra barrage and the Kosi-Mechi link will not only control the danger of recurrent floods, they will also bring in much needed prosperity to Nepal and plains of east Bihar through irrigation and hydro-power supply. 

... contd.