On Chathe River flood

The Chathe River or Pagla Nati has been very unforgiving and vindictive of late with traffic disruption every now and then as if it wants to say “Don’t mess with me”. But I suppose the blame in its entirety can’t be fixed on this infamous river which has been a source of livelihood to many and to some, an occasional Pathar Mas Chutney- a local delicacy in its own right. While erosion from beneath due to the massive current of water may be one of the reasons, the flash floods and rock falls from above the road, as is seen in the videos going viral on social media, are also equally responsible for the loss of precious lives and gradual disappearance of Four Lanes Highways.
Engineers especially those engaged in road construction while coming up with designs should take into account every aspect including the gradient, stability, alignment, drainage, sloping etc. and in this case, the destructive course of the river which has to only wear down the structure from inside out and eventually leading to its collapse, no matter how sturdy the retaining walls are. To add to the engineering woes are the incessant rain in the upper catchment area leading to a rapid increase in the volume of water and the sharp elbow bend in this particular area exposing the opposite bank to the relentless pounding of the caustic river. While not much can be done for the former, the later can be corrected by changing the course of the river by cutting/tunnelling through the natural rock formation thereby reducing the sharp bend. Right after half of the highway disappeared over night and our Hon’ble CM issued stern warning to NHIDCL terming the workmanship unscientific, a scientific team of the Corporation hastily came up with rudimentary techniques of boulders with wire mesh which even laymen like me thought could never withstand the combine load of the road and brunt of the river below. Nevertheless, we are back to square one and have to start from scratch no matter what.
Once monsoon bids its awful goodbye for this ominous year and with the ever-growing popularity of Hornbill Festival 2025 edition just round the corner, common citizens like me, consumed by the fire of apprehensions and expectations, are once again looking at a possibility of a long-term solution by employing state of art or even unconventional techniques to mitigate this seemingly intractable problem once and for all.
Imli L. Lkr