THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Every year, floods destroy homes in Punjab, Assam, Kerala, and other states. People die, crops are ruined, and lose thousands of crores. We know how to prevent floods, but our governments keep failing. Why?
Reason 1: Politicians Want to Look Like Heroes
When floods happen, politicians rush to help. They give relief packets, promise money, and get their photos in newspapers. This makes them look good for elections.
But if there are no floods because of good planning, nobody notices. No photos, no praise, no votes.
The truth:
Some corrupt officials actually want floods to happen! When floods come, they can ask for relief money from Delhi. They can then steal some of this money or give contracts to their friends at high prices.
So for them, preventing floods means losing money and political benefits.
Reason 2: Prevention Costs Money Now, Benefits Come Later
Building flood prevention systems costs crores upfront. But politicians only stay in power for 5 years. Why spend money on something that will only show results after 10-15 years?
Instead, they prefer to build things people can see immediately – roads, hospitals, schools. These get votes.
Example:
Building a proper drainage system in a city costs ₹1000 crores ( a approximate guess) and takes 10 years. By the time it works well, different politicians are in power. So current politicians don’t get credit for spending the money.
Reason 3: Too Many Departments, No Teamwork
To stop floods, many departments must work together:
(1) Weather department (for warnings)
(2) Water department (for dams)
(3) City planning (for drainage)
(4) Forest department (for trees)
But these departments don’t talk to each other! Each one works alone, has different bosses, and wants credit for themselves. Complete lack of coordination.
Real problem: Rivers flow across states, but each state government only cares about its own people. If Haryana releases dam water and Punjab floods, that’s “not Haryana’s problem.”
Reason 4: Officials Don’t Know Modern Methods
Many government officers are old-fashioned. They only know how to build bigger dams and higher walls. They don’t understand:
(1) Early warning systems using satellites
(2) Natural flood control using wetlands
(3) Smart city drainage
(4) Community preparation
Govt officers need to get proper training on new flood control methods.
Reason 5: Build in Wrong Places
The biggest problem: keep building houses, shops, and factories in places that naturally flood!
Why this happens:
(1)Builders pay bribes to get permission
(2) Politicians want to show “development”
(3). Poor people have no choice but to live in cheap, flood-prone areas
(4) Nobody enforces the rules
Once people build homes in flood areas, protecting them becomes very expensive.
Reason 6: Climate Change Made Old Methods Useless
Weather patterns have changed. Old rainfall data is no longer useful. But government “planning still uses 50-year-old information”.
Politicians also don’t understand that climate change means we need completely new approaches, not just bigger versions of old solutions.
Reason 7: Corruption at Every Step
(1) Before floods: Officials take money to allow illegal construction in flood areas. They use cheap materials in flood protection work.
(2) During floods: Relief supplies are sold in black market. Help goes to areas with political connections first.
(3) After floods: Fake victims get compensation. Reconstruction contracts go to friends at inflated prices. Poor quality work ensures the same place floods again.
Punjab Example: Same Story Everywhere
Punjab gets flooded regularly. Experts write reports. Government promises action. Some money is spent. But the real problems – poor drainage, illegal construction, lack of coordination – never get fixed.
Why? Because fixing them requires:
(1) Multiple departments working together (doesn’t happen)
(2) Honest spending over many years (corruption prevents this)
(3) Stopping powerful builders (politically difficult)
(4) Long-term planning beyond elections (politicians won’t do this)
What Is Required
(1) Stop the politics: Make it profitable for politicians to prevent floods, not just manage them after they happen.
(2) Fix the money: Create separate, protected budgets for flood prevention that can’t be used for other things.
(3) Force teamwork: Make department heads personally responsible for coordinating with others.
(4) Punish corruption: Jail corrupt officials who steal relief money or allow illegal construction.
(5) Strict building rules: Absolutely no construction in flood-prone areas. No exceptions.
(6) Educate officials: Train all government staff on modern flood prevention methods.
The Simple Truth
We keep getting flooded not because we don’t know how to stop floods, but because our political and government system makes money from floods happening.
Until we change this system – until preventing floods becomes more profitable than allowing them – we will keep seeing the same tragic story every monsoon.
Our governments have the technology to save lives and property. They just need the honesty and political will to use it.
References
1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Punjab,_India_floods
2.https://indiawris.gov.in/wiki/doku.php?id=flood_management
3.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212420919309537
4.Floods in India, Causes, Impacts, Mitigation, Measures https://vajiramandravi.com/upsc-exam/floods/
5. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/flood-management-in-india-1
6.https://indiandefencereview.com/floods-in-india-a-challenge-for-governance-and-diplomacy/
7.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_India
