LEDC flood: Bihar 2008

Question 1

Location

Answer 1

Bihar is located in the north east of India, to the south of the Himalayas bordering Nepal

Question 2

Causes

Answer 2

The monsoon brought heavy rainfall to the foothills of the Himalayas and dramatically increased the discharge of the Kosi.
Deforestation that had taken place in the Kosi River’s drainage basin.
The Kosi River had flood defences that were supposed to handle approximately 30,000m3 of water per second7 but were breached at a fraction of that capacity.

Question 3

Social effects

Answer 3

The flood killed 500-2000 people.
3 million people were made homeless and sent to refugee camps.
A shortage of clean drinking water and the warm climate meant that waterborne and vector diseases were easily spread.
When 100,000 Ha of land was flooded, most of their food was destroyed.

Question 4

Economic effects

Answer 4

Roads were destroyed, costing money to repair and disrupting trade.
The disaster ended up costing nearly $542 million.

Question 5

Environmental effects

Answer 5

The flood washed sewage and pollutants into the Kosi River, polluting it and killing off some wildlife.

Question 6

short term responses

Answer 6

The Indian government created a £115m relief package to be sent to Bihar.
The government released 125,000 tonnes of emergency grain that was to be distributed in Bihar.
400,000 people were evacuated to relief camps.
500 soldiers were sent to help rescue citizens

Question 7

Long term responses

Answer 7

An “Owner Driven Housing Reconstruction” scheme was created, funded by the World Bank, to give money to homeowners to rebuild their homes using bamboo, bricks, corrugated iron & concrete. Each household was given $1,200 for reconstruction..
When the plan to reconstruct infrastructure was laid out, it was expected that 90 bridges and 290km of road would be reconstructed, benefiting 2 million people.
It was estimated to cost $500 million to , improve flood management and improve flood prediction technologies.