892 Chapter 18

the West and from Ganga. Flooding is also caused by the entry of backwater of
Ganga through the Harohar River. The only drainage outlet for the Tal is through
the Harohar-Kiul River, which does not have adequate capacity. Consequently, the
land remains submerged practically up to the middle of November.
The following are the major causes of water logging in the Tal area.
1. The total catchment area of various rivers draining into the Tal is 13,340 sq. km
against the total submergence area of 1,062 sq. km. Clearly, even if the Tal is
dry, the incoming water from the catchment can appreciably submerge the Tal
area even with a moderate runoff. Inundation during the monsoon period in the
Tal area is caused by these rivers as the runoff of this large catchment enters the
Tal area.
2. The entry of backwater of the Ganga River causes water logging in the Tal area.
3. The topography of the area does not permit any provision to ensure drainage
until the Ganga water level starts receding. Sometimes, this goes up to the middle
of November. The only drainage of the Tal is through Harohar River and a few
culverts in the Patna-Munger road and eastern railway embankments.
4. There is no regulating arrangement in Harohar River which could prevent the
entry of the backwater of the Ganga. Likewise, there is no provision to check
the entry of backwater through road and railway culverts.
Solution: Water-logging problem in the Mokama Tal area has drawn attention of
decision makers for a long time and many suggestions have been made to solve
it. Broadly, the suggestions to solve this water logging and drainage congestion
problem are:
1. Construction of storage reservoir and embankment on the right side of Punpun
River to check flow into Tal.
2. Construction of an anti-flood sluice on Harohar River.
3. Constructing river embankments on both banks of Harohar and irrigation outlets
for sluicing water for irrigation.
4. Use of mathematical modeling and system analysis techniques to derive a long-
term sustainable solution of the Mokama Tal problem.
Despite studies and reports by several committees, the problem of Mokama Tal
remains unsolved. A detailed description of the area and problem is given in
NIH (1996).

18.4. DROUGHTS

Drought is a phenomenon which occurs in different parts of the Indian sub-continent

with unpredictable frequency. Normally, the term drought is used to express shortage
of precipitation or water at a place when it is expected. In India, droughts mainly
occur due to: i) delay in the onset or failure of monsoons, ii) large variability of
monsoon rainfall, and iii) long break in monsoon.
As water is used for various life supporting uses, drought can also be defined
as a situation where water is expected nut not available. For example, in Bali, six
consecutive rainless days would be termed as drought while in some parts of North