India's "river of sorrow" brings biblical flood

By Bappa Majumdar

MADHEPURA, India (Reuters) - Most years, the Kosi river of eastern India is a tranquil stream that flows gently into the Ganges. But every few years it becomes a raging torrent, wreaking disaster on everything in its path.

That's what happened in August when after monsoon rains the Kosi burst its banks and flooded half of Bihar state, wiping out villages and farms and displacing more than 3 million people.

The river is notorious for such cataclysmic events and experts say the government should have been prepared for such a scenario and taken preventive action such as reinforcing embankments and removing silt from the river bed.

"This is the mother of all floods," said P.V. Unnikrishnan of aid agency ActionAid, summing up the devastation.

The Kosi, a tributary of the mighty Ganges, flooded an area roughly the size of Belgium. The floods changed the course of the river, shifting it 120 km (75 miles) towards a dry river channel it last flowed through 250 years ago.

"It looked angry, very angry and we could do nothing, absolutely nothing," said Kashiram Singh, a farmer.

When Kadam Lal was a little boy, his grandfather would tell him stories about the terrifying floods unleashed by the Kosi. Now he has seen with his own eyes why the Kosi is called the "River of Sorrow".

"Over 100 acres of my land was gone within minutes," said Lal, a now grey-haired farmer, pointing at a swirling barrage of muddy water powering down what were once lush green fields.