sediment management in river kosi a commercial...

2018

Sediment Management in River Kosi –

A Commercial Perspective

Submitted to

Submitted By

BASIX Consulting and

Technology Services

Ltd., Hyderabad

Sediment Management in River Kosi – A Commercial Perspective 2018

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Executive Summary

The Kosi is known as “sorrow of Bihar” due to its frequent and devastating floods in Bihar. The river carries very

high annual sedimentation load (multilayer staking of silt). It was estimated that rate of sedimentation is 5.33

cm/year in Chatra-Birpur and 2.83 in birpur-Baltara. Over 10 million people are hit by water logging even if the

rainfall in the state is normal or deficient. Removing deposited silt and managing it for commercial purposes are

among the adaptation strategies to address the problem of recurrent floods.

Exploration of scope to manage silt of Kosi river was identified as one of the key focus area for Action on Climate

Today (ACT - a new programme of UK DFID) as agreed jointly by Government of Bihar (GoB) and ACT team. In

this respect, a scoping study was conducted to estimate the deposited and extractable silt in various stretches of

Kosi river and to make a commercial plan for usage of the dredged silt. BASIX Consulting and Technology

Services (BCTS) was hired by ACT for undertaking this scoping study.

As part of the study, BCTS team had discussion with various stakeholders such as farmers, community, local

NGOs, brick manufacturers, government departments, research institutions, etc. The approach was Stakeholder

consultation (through semi-structured interviews and focused group discussion), survey with farmers/HH (through

scheduled questionnaire for 201 HH) and of local NGOs - Kosi Seva Sadan of Saharsa and Gramyasheel of

Supaul (Key informant Interview), silt sample collection and analysis (40 samples of silt were taken. 7, 12 and 21

samples along with eastern embankment, mid of the river and along the western embankment were taken

respectively), experimentation with silt sample for ceramic products (5 kgs and 10 kgs of silt samples were taken

from the middle of river from the Kosi Barrage and sent to IIT-Varanasi and IIT-Patna respectively).

The study shows that agriculture, livestock rearing and wage labour are the major livelihood options in both the

districts. In Saharsa, 91% of low lands are badly affected due to water logging. In Supaul, 4% upland and 5%

middle land are flood affected, while 77% of low land is waterlogged throughout the year. One or two members

from more than 60% of families migrate. Migration was found to be higher among the “inside embankment

villages” than “outside embankment.

At IIT Kanpur, 20 silt samples were analysed as there was not much variation found in the analysis. Silt samples

were aluminosilicate minerals, although all the samples were highly siliceous in nature. SiO2 content in the silt

was around 66.36 to 80.15% and Al2O3 around 9.5 to 14.60%. Appreciable quantity of ferriginous impurities was

noted in all the samples. High level of K2O and Na2O was noticed which will change the alkalinity of the soil. Silt

samples were essentially aluminosilicate minerals with quartz inclusion. Major crystalline phase was quartz,

feldspar (plagioclase, microcline) and hydrated mica was observed as major phase. In the sample taken from

western embankment near the Nepal border has huge amount of mica/ illite.

The soil test data pertaining to hundreds of farmers’ fields taken from all blocks In Saharsa District were obtained

to study the existing soil fertility status by the Department of Soil Science, Rajendra Central Agricultural

University, Pusa. The data indicates that the soils of the district are slightly alkaline. It was also observed that

there is no significant difference in soil properties at different depths and among samples of different stretches.

Embankments are not alkaline and it is suitable for most of the crops grown in the area. The soil test data of mid

river soil and soils within east and west embankments indicates that organic carbon content in all stretches is low

The soil analysis data indicates that majority of soil samples collected near both the embankments and mid of

the river contains medium to high Phosphorous and are deficient with respect to micronutrients content. It was

also found that all the samples were practically non-plastic in nature irrespective their sources. When ceramic

products are made from its raw materials all raw materials invariably contain iron. It has inappreciable quaintly of

iron oxide and TiO2. So, these silt samples can’t be recommended for utilization in high value ceramic products.

FGDs conducted with local community of the villages nearby embankment revealed that most of the agricultural

lands of the village are waterlogged for more than half of the year. About 98% of HHs migrated to other states.

And therefore both agriculture as well as livestock have been hampered. Due to water logging for several

consecutive months of year, Malaria and Filaria are prevalent. Women folk expressed that they are


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overburdened as their partners migrate to other states in search of livelihoods. Women hardly find places to

defecate. The villagers suggested that if the Government can fill their lands to make them upland, they will take

care of converting the lands into agricultural lands. Local NGOs too suggested to use the silt of Kosi river for

filling up waterlogged areas to revive the agricultural lands. An on-field survey and a proper drainage system

have to be an integral part of the entire plan along with possibility of revamping sluice gates at the embankments.

During the course of the study, various research and extension institutions were approached to obtain the

information and expert opinion about the use of Kosi silt. According to Department of Ecology and Environment,

Kosi silt is not suitable for usage in raising saplings as the silt is very fine and do not provide a conducive

environment for seedlings to grow. Soil Scientists are also of view that the soils are loamy sand and poorly fertile

which needs additional inputs to cultivate. Agronomy Professors also agreed that soil/ silts are having poorer soil

fertility. Department of Road Construction, Saharsa suggested that sand/ silt of the river can be used for

widening the road or increasing the height of the road and building paving blocks. ATMA team appreciated the

idea of filling up waterlogged area with Kosi river silt. The usage suggested by CGCRI team includes pavement

flooring, low value ceramic products such as Indian Pan, and brick making, provided mica is removed from the

silt. Brick manufacturers informed that at present there are 200 flyash brick manufacturing units in Bihar with a

cumulative installed capacity of producing 10 crore bricks annually. Some of them are in view that Kosi silt is not

suitable for brick making as the silt is very fine. Results of chemical analysis of the silt sample by IIT Varanasi

revealed that the low value ceramic products can be made from the silt. To make high value product, care should

be taken during impurity removal, for which cost may be increased.

Overall, the study is recommending that bulk usage would be dumping the Kosi silt in the agricultural fields which

are low lying and prone to submergence during flood season. The silt can be used for landfills / deeply excavated

fields for brick making, roadside excavated fields etc. The top layer of low lying lands dumped with silt needs to

be improved to make it suitable for crop cultivation. It can be done by adding organic manures and scraped fertile

silt where existing top soil is sandy and poor in terms of fertility status. After a few years of cultivation, the top

layer of silt can be converted to fertile agricultural fields. 50, 000 ha of waterlogged land in Supaul district can be

filled up with a layer of 3 ft consuming 90% of the extractable silt deposited in Supaul. All village roads also can

be strengthened using the kosi silt.

Likely benefits and impact include a) Increased area under agriculture and therefore Increased production and

Income of HH, b) Enhanced availability of land for livestock, c) Reduced level of migration, d) Enhanced area

available for villager to attend to nature’s call, e) Reduced level of prevalence of Malaria/ Falaria etc., f) Local

entrepreneurship would be built, g) Reduced recurrence of flood, and h) Reduced level of Migration.


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Table of Contents 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 8

2 Background ....................................................................................................................................... 9

2.1 Kosi and Floods ......................................................................................................................... 9

2.2 Estimates for Sediment Load and Volume of Extractable Silt ........................................................ 11

3 About The Study .............................................................................................................................. 15

3.1 Objectives and Outcomes: ........................................................................................................ 15

3.2 Approach and Methodology ...................................................................................................... 15

4 Socio-Economic Profile of the Region ........................................................................................... 17

5 Characteristics of Silt ..................................................................................................................... 27

5.1.1 Chemical Characteristics ...................................................................................................... 27

5.2 Fertility Status of Kosi Silt within the embankment ....................................................................... 29

6 Proposed Commercial Usage of Silt ................................................................................................... 30

6.1 Land filling and Reclamation of Land: ................................................................................... 30

6.2 Agriculture Purpose .............................................................................................................. 34

6.3 In ceramic Industry: .................................................................................................................. 35

6.4 Raising level of Houses: ......................................................................................................... 38

6.5 Forestry and Horticulture ..................................................................................................... 39

6.6 Brick Making ............................................................................................................................ 39

6.7 Construction of Road: ............................................................................................................... 42

6.8 Usage for Repair of Embankments ....................................................................................... 44

7 Summary and Major Recommendations ............................................................................................. 45

Annexure-1 Tool and Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 47

Annexure-2 Minutes of Stakeholder Workshop ............................................................................................ 62

Annexure 3 Sample ID of silt samples ................................................................................................... 69

Annexure 4 Chemical Properties .......................................................................................................... 71

Annexure-5 Properties of Silt from Agriculture Point of View.............................................................. 74


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List of Tables

Table 1 Estimates ofSilt Deposited Over 54 years ....................................................................................... 12

Table 2 Extractable Silt in Very High and High Aggradations Zones .............................................................. 15

Table 3 Sanpshot of HHs covered under survey .......................................................................................... 18

Table 4 Land Details ................................................................................................................................ 19

Table 5 Land Utilization Pattern and Productivity ......................................................................................... 21

Table 6 Use of Soil Amendment and River Silt ............................................................................................ 23

Table 7 Livelihood Basket and Average Annual Income of HHs .................................................................... 24

Table 8 Statue of micronutrients in soil of farmers’ fields of Saharsa District .................................................. 22

Table 9 Soil fertility status in different stretches of Kosi river ......................................................................... 29

Table 10 Properties of Wall Tiles ............................................................................................................... 36

Table 11 Properties of Insulation Refractory ............................................................................................... 37

Table 12 Properties of Paving Block .......................................................................................................... 38

Table 13 Estimated income of farmers from reclaimed land area in Supaul .................................................... 33

List of Figures

Figure 1 Kosi Basin in Bihar ........................................................................................................................ 9

Figure 2 Kosi River Watershed .................................................................................................................. 10

Figure 3 Hotspots of siltation ..................................................................................................................... 13

Figure 4 Overall Approach of the Project .................................................................................................... 16

Figure 5 Stakeholders Consulted under the study ....................................................................................... 17

Figure 6 Coverage Under Survey .............................................................................................................. 18

Figure 7 Land Ownership Pattern .............................................................................................................. 19

Figure 8 Image of sintered raw wall tile ...................................................................................................... 37

Figure 9 Micrograph image of wall tiles surface ........................................................................................... 37

Figure 10 Image of sintered insulation refractory brick ................................................................................. 37

Figure 11 Scanning electron microscopy image of insulation refractory brick ................................................. 37

../../BIH%208B/Final%20report/Revised%20Rashmi%20BCTS_pk.doc#_Toc508877521










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1 Abbreviation ACT Action on Climate Today

ATMA Agricultural Technology Management Agency

BRGF Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme

BADP Border Area Development Programme

BAMETI Bihar Agriculture Management & Extension Training Institute

BCTS BASIX Consulting and Technology Services Limited

CBR California Bearing Ratio

CWS Centre for World Solidarity

CGCRI Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute

CCIP Climate Change Innovation Programme

DAP Diammonium phosphat

DPD Deputy Project Director

FGD Focused Group Discussion

GoB Government of Bihar

HH Household

HDI Human Development Index

ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research

IIT Indian Institute of Technology

KhSTPP Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Station

LOI Loss of Ignition

NGO Non-Government Organization

NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products

NTPC Ltd. National Thermal Power Corporation Limited

OBC Other Backward Caste

RAU Rajendra Agricultural University


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RPCAU Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University

SC Scheduled Caste

EC Soil Electric Conductivity

SOC Soil Organic Carbon

DFID Department for International Development

XRD X-ray Powder Diffraction

XRF X-ray fluorescence


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2 Introduction

Bihar is an Indian state, which has been ravaged by floods every year and affecting the large and highly

vulnerable rural poor. The River “Kosi” or “Koshi” (used interchangeably) is known as “sorrow of Bihar” because

of the floods it causes and the widespread suffering through devastating floods. This Himalayan river carries very

high annual sedimentation load, which has led to multilayer staking of silt. Removing deposited silt and managing

it for commercial purposes was found to be one of the adaptation strategies to address the problem of recurrent

floods caused due to over deposition of silt. Government of Bihar in collaboration with various research

institutions had taken up pilots on products with silt and establish usage of silt. ACT, a programme of UK DFID

under Climate Change Innovation Programme (CCIP) being implemented in Bihar and working with GoB for

supporting the state Government to integrate climate change into policies, plans and budgets. Exploration of

innovative methods to manage silt of Kosi river was identified as one of the key focus area for ACT as agreed

jointly by GoB and ACT team. The study consisted of two aspects: the technical aspect and commercial viability

aspect. The technical part of the scoping study was envisaged to estimate the deposited and extractable silt in

various stretches of Kosi river. Proff. Rajiv Sinha, IIT Kanpur was engaged to cover the technical aspect of the

scoping study. The commercial aspect of the study covered the commercial plan for usage of the dredged silt.

Basix Consulting TS has partnered with ACT for undertaking this commercial viability aspect of the study.

This report is the summary analysis of the commercial viability of managing silt for useful economic purposes and

there by reducing the losses due to devastating floods and the secondary losses due to crop failure and

livelihood losses etc. As part of the study, the expert team held discussion with various stakeholders such as

farmers, resident community along River Kosi, local NGOs, brick manufacturers, Government Departments,

Research institutions etc. The report has a section on the findings of these discussions. Silt samples from the

area between the eastern and western embankments of Kosi River and active channel were taken and analyzed.

The report has a separate section on the characteristics of silt covering both the chemical properties and fertility

content. The project team also experimented with the silt of Kosi river in laboratory to understand the usage of

silt in ceramic industry. Sample of silt also analysed for its use in road making and filling of low lying land which

are under water rendered huge chunk of land unfit for cultivation. Results of these experimentations have been

put together as a section in this report. A market demand assessment for these products/usages has been done

and briefed in a section. Lastly sections on likely benefits, recommendations along with areas of caution were

added in the report.


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3 Background

3.1 Kosi and Floods

Geographical background

Bihar is a northern Indian state bordered by West Bengal in the east, Uttar Pradesh in the west, Jharkhand in the

south, and the country of Nepal in the north. The state has a population of 82.87 million (it is the third most

populous state in India after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra) and a geographical area of 94,163 sq.km. Most of

the people of Bihar still live in rural areas, as the proportion of urban population is only 10.47%. The population

density is 880/km2 and it has a gender ratio of 921 women to every thousand men. The literacy rate: 60.32 for

males and 33.57 for females.1

The River Ganges, which is the main drainage system for the state, flows in an easterly direction and stretches

432 km across Bihar, bisecting the state. North Bihar, the plain located north of the Ganges, is interspersed with

eight major river basins; i.e., the Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Burhi Gandak, the Bagmati, the Adhwara group of

rivers, the Kamala, the Kosi, and the Mahananda. Thus, all the rivers in North Bihar share basins either with

another Indian state or with Nepal and Tibet.

The flat terrain and the huge seasonal variations in water volume in the rivers cause extensive flooding in the

North Bihar plains. Gradients vary from 22 cm per km near the Indo-Nepal boundary to 7.5 cm per km near the

confluence of the rivers with the Ganges. The difference between minimum and maximum flows in Himalayan

rivers is high. During normal years, the rivers carry between 10 and 20 times more water during the monsoon

than in winter but, during periods of intense rainfall in the catchment areas, they can increase a hundred-fold in

size. 2

1 Census 2011 2 Mishra 2008

Figure 1 Kosi Basin in Bihar


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Figure 2 Kosi River Watershed

Himalayan rivers carry large amounts of sediment during the monsoon. The heavy downpours in the mountains

scour the slopes and turn the swift waters into a muddy brew. As they reach the plains and lose momentum, the

rivers deposit their loads and begin to meander.

The Kosi River

The Kosi / Koshi starts its journey at a height of about 7,000 meters above sea level (masl) in the Himalayas; its

upper catchment is located in Nepal and Tibet. The Everest and Kangchenjunga ranges form part of the Kosi

Watershed. The river is also called the Sapta Kosi in Nepal as it is comprised of the waters of the Indravati, the

Sun Kosi or Bhote Kosi, the Tama Kosi, the Likhu Kosi, the Dudh Kosi, the Arun Kosi, and the Tamar Kosi. The

first five rivers listed form the Sun Kosi that flows from west to east. These rivers descend from the Gauri

Shankar and Makalu ranges. The sixth stream is called the Arun Kosi and Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) is

located in its catchment.

The seventh stream is called the Tamar Kosi and it flows from east to west bringing the Kangchenjunga waters

with its flow. Thus, the Sun Kosi, the Arun Kosi, and the Tamar Kosi join at Triveni in the Dhankuta district of

Nepal and assume the name of the Sapta Kosi, Maha Kosi, or the Kosi (Figure 1). Triveni is located within the

hills and it is about 10 km north of Chatra where the river disgorges into the plains.

After reaching the plains, the bed of the Kosi widens drastically and it spreads over 6 to 10 km in breadth. After

traversing a distance of about 50 km in Nepal, the river enters Indian Territory near Bhim Nagar (Supaul district).

From Bhim Nagar, the river flows in a south-westerly direction for about 100 km until it reaches Mahishi in

Saharsa district of Bihar. From Mahishi, it turns south-east and, after going a further 33 km; it crosses the


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Saharsa-Mansi rail line, south of the Kopadia railway station, and joins the Ganges near Kursela in Katihar

district.

The total catchment area of the Kosi is 74,030 sq.km, and this does not include the catchment areas of two of its

important tributaries, the Kamla (7,232 sq.km) and the Bagmati (14,384 sq.km). Out of the total catchment of the

Kosi, 11,410 sq.km are located in India and the remaining 62,620 sq.km lie in Nepal or Tibet. The average

rainfall in the upper catchment of the Kosi is 1,589 mm while in the lower reaches it is 1,323 mm.

Floods in Kosi

Bihar is one of the poorest states in India securing second last rank in human development index3. It has long

suffered from dire poverty and stagnant economic growth, although it has shown some signs of improvement in

recent years. Recurrent floods are devastating to Bihar’s economy and undermine poverty alleviation efforts.

Floods not only affect lives, livelihoods, productivity and security of existing investments, but are also a

disincentive for additional investments in Bihar.

Bihar accounts for about 17% of the flood-prone area and 22% of the flood-prone population in India. As much

as three-fourths of Bihar’s land area is flood-prone and three-fourths of north Bihar’s population is under the

threat of recurrent floods. Bihar’s vulnerability to floods is due to its very flat topography and being located just

downstream of the steep Himalayas, intense Monsoonal rains (more than 2,500mm/year in the upstream areas

and about 1,200 mm/yr in the State, 80% during the months of June-September), high sediment loads, high

population density (1263 per sq.km), low-socio-economic development and unhelpful topography for massive

water infrastructure to regulate flow.

Floods on the Kosi differ from floods on other rivers, because the river changes its course regularly. The records

available suggest that the river was flowing about 160 km east of its present course some 200 years ago. This

river was flowing east of Purnia in the late eighteenth century and is now flowing west of Darbhanga (Mishra

2008c). The lateral movements of rivers cause erosion and loss of land. At the same time new land is

continuously formed. These new chaur (low-lying lands), however, remain waterlogged for years before they

become productive.

A considerable portion of the land in Bihar is waterlogged, a phenomenon that has been exacerbated by

development: natural drainage has been impeded by embankments, canals, roads, and railway tracks. Official

records suggest that nearly one million hectares of land in Bihar, 85% of it in North Bihar, is waterlogged. The

835,000 hectares of waterlogged area constitutes about 16% of the total area of North Bihar, which has a

population of 52.3 million people and an area of 52,312 sq.km (GoB 2009).

3.2 Estimates for Sediment Load and Volume of Extractable Silt

Estimates for Net Sediment Load

Prof. Rajiv Sinha from IIT Kanpur has provided the estimates for the first order sediment thickness and rate of

deposition in the Kosi main channel for the post-embankment period, using the sediment data collected from

stream gaging stations i.e. from Chatra, Birpur and Baltara for different water years.

Table-1 depicts the estimate of the net sediment load for the post embankment period (for 54 years starting from 1963) as provided by Prof. Rajiv Sinha.

3 Human Development Report Bihar, 2011


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Table 1 Estimates of Silt Deposited Over 54 years

Estimates for Volume of Extractable Silt


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Using the planform mapping, volume of silt in the active channel was estimated by Proff. Rajiv Sinha. The stretch

between Chatra and Baltara was divided into 33 reaches at 5 km interval for planform mapping as depicted in

figure- below.

Figure 3 Hotspots of siltation


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The hotspots of aggradation in the Kosi River in the alluvial plains have been identified based on the aggradation

pattern, the entire stretch between Chatra (upstream) and Baltara (downstream) has been classified into five

zones as depicted in figure-3: (I) very low aggradation, (II) Low aggradation, (III) Moderate aggradation, (IV) High

aggradation and (V) Very high aggradation. Zone IV (reaches 2, 12-13, 17, 19-21) and V (reaches 9-11, 14-

16, 18) are considered to be most serious in terms of siltation and almost all of them are downstream of the

barrage falling Supaul district. Further downstream, the reaches 22-37 falling in Saharsa district are classified as

low to very low aggradation zones.


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Extractable Silt in Very High and High Aggradations Zones:

Table 2 Extractable Silt in Very High and High Aggradations Zones

4 About the Study

4.1 Objectives and Outcomes:

The objective of the assignment was to develop a plan for commercial utilisation of silt that would be dredged

detailing various products and usage that can be suggested using the silt based on the available characteristics

of the silt. The usage of silt would be explored in broadly two areas: one as usage in small quantity in ceramic

industry and second as bulk usage in civil application and for agricultural purposes. The scoping study

report would enable the ACT team to develop a sedimentation management policy recommendation document

for the GoB.

4.2 Approach and Methodology

Following figure depicts the overall approach employed for the scoping study:

Zone Reach No. Average Volume of Silt in 106m3

IV-High Aggradation

12 39.84

13 41.16

17 35.81

19 36.22

20 29.6

21 19.64

V-Very High Aggradation

9 39.52

10 46.99

11 42.93

14 48.92

15 50.07

16 49.68

18 32.64

Total 513.02

Dredging should be done first in

zone-IV and V and the volume of

silt that is extractable is 513.02

106m3 .


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Figure 4 Overall Approach of the Project

The study was started with a consultation workshop on “Managing Silt of Kosi River, Bihar - The Initiatives

and Challenges” held at Hotel Chanakya, Patna held on March 31st 2017. The workshop helped BCTS to

understand the various initiatives undertaken by various agencies and also its introduction to various concerned

agencies and Government Departments. Minutes of the consultation workshop is attached as annexure.

Understanding the profile of the Kosi Region

A literature review on geographical background of Kosi region, nature and problems with Kosi River, scope-

economic profile of the region was done to start with to set a context for the proposed study. A questionnaire-

based survey was conducted with 201 farmers/HHs of Saharsa and Supaul district with the support of local

NGOs: Kosi Seva Sadan, Saharsa and Gramyasheel, Supaul. A team of four surveyors were employed for

conducting the survey. A data entry format was designed for capturing the data collected through survey. The

data was analysed to understand the socio-economic profile of the households residing in the Kosi region. In

addition to the household survey, focused group discussions were also conducted by the study team with the

residents of the area. Tools used for data collection is attached as Annexure-1 for reference. To understand the

existing soil fertility status of farmers’ fields, it was planned to collect soil testing data from the flood prone

districts. The soil test data of farmers’ fields taken from all blocks of Saharsa District were obtained from the

Department of Soil Science Rajendra Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur)). The parameters

analysed were soil pH, EC, Available NPK and micronutrients.

Understanding the properties of Silt

Upon meeting with scientists from CGCRI, it was realised that the characteristics of the silt provided by CGCRI

were mostly based on the analysis of samples taken from one location i.e Bhimanagar and were not taken from

the active channel. Hence, it was decided that fresh samples of silt within the embankments would be taken and

analysed. 40 samples of silt were taken. 7, 12 and 21 samples along with eastern embankment, mid of the river

and along the western embankment were taken, respectively. Samples were taken at different depths at each

location. Both the chemical properties and properties from agricultural point of view were analysed. The chemical


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properties of the sample were analysed at IIT Kanpur under the guidance of Prof. Sinha, while the properties

from agricultural point of view were analysed at RCAU, PUSA.

Exploration of areas of commercial usage of Silt along with market demand assessment

Following stakeholders were consulted to understand the existing usage of Kosi silt. The consultation also

covered exploration of possible commercial usage of silt along with an assessment of market demand for the

possible usage/product. The categories of stakeholders covered under the study are mapped in figure-5. Semi-

structured interviews and focused group discussion were conducted with these stakeholders. The interview

guidelines used during the study are attached as Annexure-1.

Figure 5 Stakeholders Consulted under the study

There were few laboratory-based experiments with silt samples collected from Kosi. As information on the

products experimented by CGCRI were not available, fresh experiments on usage of Kosi silt for ceramic

products and usage in road construction were conducted. 5 kgs and 10 kgs of silt samples were taken from the

middle of river from the Kosi Barrage and sent to IIT-Varanasi and IIT-Patna respectively. Under the guidance of

Prof. Ram Pyare, IIT Varanasi, three types of products: paver blocks, tile and insulation refractory were made

from silt. The products were then tested in the laboratories. In IIT Patna, under the guidance of Prof. Amarnath

Hegde, experiments were conducted to explore the usage of silt in road construction.

5 Socio-Economic Profile of the Region

North Bihar has a population of 66.09 million people (2011 Census) and an area of 52,312 sq km implying a

population density of 1263 person per sq. km. It also implies that over 10 million people are hit by water logging

even if the rainfall in the state is normal or deficient. Economy of North Bihar is predominantly agricultural and if

the land remains water logged, it cannot be ploughed and hence no agriculture is possible over it. This throws

the farmers engaged in agriculture out of employment and it results in massive migration to greener pastures

within the country and abroad.

Saharsa- On 2nd October 1972, Kosi Division was formed comprising of Saharsa, Purnia and Katihar district with

its head quarters at Saharsa. As per Census, 2011, Saharsa ranks 27th in terms of population (19,00,661), 31st in


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terms of area (1,687 sq.km.) and 21st in terms of child sex-ratio (933) in the state of Bihar. There are 23

uninhabited villages (out of 468 total villages) in the district of Saharsa with 54.57% literacy rate. Block Mahishi

has the highest number of villages (81) in the district. In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Saharsa one

of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 38 districts in Bihar currently

receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Human Development Index (HDI)

of the district is 0.5257.

Supaul- Supaul district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar. Supaul town is the administrative headquarters

of this district. This district occupies an area of 2,410 km2 and total population 2,228,397 (as per Census, 2011).

Supaul has a sex ratio of 925 and literacy rate of 59.65%. Supaul district was carved out from the

erstwhile Saharsa district on 14 March 1991. The district is bounded by Nepal to the north, Araria district to the

east, Madhepura and Saharsa districts to the south and Madhubani district to the west. The Kosi River flows

through this district, which which causes frequent flood here. Agriculture is the major occupation of this district

and paddy is the main crop. In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Supaul as one of the country's

250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 38 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds

from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Human Development Index (HDI) of the district is

0.4724.

In order to understand the socio-economic conditions of the villagers residing within 5 km of embankment, a

household (HH) survey was conducted in two districts- Saharsa and Supaul covering a total of 201 HHs.

Geo-Coverage: The study covered a total of 19 villages (5 in Saharsa block and 16 in Supaul). These villages

were within 5 Km from the embankment- either outside or inside of it. The data was collected either from the

head of the family or from other adult family member, if Head of the family is not available. The age of the

respondents varied from 30- 83 years in Saharsa and 28- 70 years in Supaul.

The details of surveyed HH have been briefed in the table below:

Table 3 Sanpshot of HHs covered under survey

District Block Village Distance from embankment

Inside/ outside of embankment

HH cover-ed

Age range of the informant

Saharsa Mahishi Kandaha 4.0 km Outside 20 32 – 66 yrs

Baghwa 0.5 km Inside 20 30 – 75 yrs

Kothiya 3.0 km Inside 20 35 – 70 yrs

Sarouni 1.0 km Outside 20 30 – 83 yrs

Figure 6 Coverage Under Survey


19

Mahishi 1.0 km Outside 20 44 – 74 yrs

District Total

1 5 --- --- 100 30 – 83 yrs

Supaul Basantpur Satenpatti 1.0 km Outside 10 46 – 62 yrs

Kisanpur Kisanpur South 1.0 km Inside 10 45 – 65 yrs

Maladh 0.5 km Outside 4 45 – 65 yrs

Nauabakhar 2.0 km Inside 6 38 – 60 yrs

Marouna Ghoghariya 6.0 km Inside 6 44 – 65 yrs

Koknaha 5.0 km Inside 4 28 – 55 yrs

Sisoni 5.0 km Inside 10 40 – 57 yrs

Nirmali Majhari 5.0 km Inside 11 30 – 57 yrs

Saraigadh Bhaptiyahi 1.0 km Outside 4 52 – 69 yrs

Dholi 3.0 km Inside 6 35 – 65 yrs

Saraigadh 0.5 km Outside 10 35 – 65 yrs

Supaul Dabhar 0.5 km Inside 1 46 yrs

Dabhari 0.5 km Inside 5 45 – 65 yrs

Ghuran 3.0 km Inside 4 60 – 65 yrs

Maircha 2.0 km Inside 6 40 – 70 yrs

Rampurnawad 1.0 km Outside 4 45 – 66 yrs

District Total

6 16 --- --- 101 28 – 70 yrs

Land Ownership: All the families reported to have their own agricultural land. In Saharsa, 24% sample HHs

have upland with 1-7 Acre land size, 67% HHs have middle land with a range from 0.5 to 6 Acres, while 46%

sample HHs have 0.5 to 7 Acres low

land. All the uplands and middle

lands are irrigated land, while 8% of low lands are irrigated. River water is the main source of irrigation. They use

bore well and pump set to collect the water. Though upland and middle lands are not affected by flood, 91% of

low lands are badly affected. These are either waterlogged or sand logged.

In Supaul, 26% of sample families have upland, 72% of families middle land and 59% HHs have low land. Land

size is much higher in case of low land (as much as 25 acres). Only 27% of upland and 76% of middle land are

irrigated. They use bore well for irrigation purpose. 4% of upland and 5% of middle land are flood affected, while

77% low land is waterlogged throughout the year.

Table 4 Land Details

District Upland Medium land Low land

Saharsa 24% of sample families are having upland

Land size ranges from 1 to 7

67% of sample families are having middle land

Land size ranges from 0.5 to 6

46% sample families are having low land

Land size ranges from 0.5 to 7

In Saharsa, 91% of low lands are

badly affected due to water

logging. In Supaul, 4% upland

and 5% middle land are flood

affected, while 77% of low land

is waterlogged throughout the

year.

Figure 7 Land Ownership Pattern


20

Acres

Acres Acres

All of these are irrigated land

They use boring and pump set for irrigation

All of these are irrigated land

They use boring and pump set

8% of them are irrigated land

They use boring and pump set for irrigation

None of the land is affected by flood

None of the land is affected by flood

91% of the land is either waterlogged or sand logged

Supaul 26% of sample families have upland

Land size ranges from 0.5 to 9 Acres

72% of sample families have middle land

Land size ranges from 1 to 15 Acres

59% sample families have low land

Land size ranges from 1 to 25 Acres

27% of these are irrigated land

They use boring well for irrigation

76% of these are irrigated land

They use boring well for irrigation

38% of them are irrigated land

They use boring well

4% land is affected by flood 5% land is affected by flood 77% of the land is either waterlogged or sand logged

Land Utilisation and Cropping Pattern: Survey in Saharsa revealed that the major crops in Upland are Paddy,

Wheat and Maize, though the production is low. Besides these,

Sesame, Black plum, Green Grass, Mehagini, Patal ( Pointed Gourd),

Green Gram (Moong) and Potato were also found to be cultivated in

few lands. 82% of the farmers, having medium land, are involved in

paddy cultivation, which is followed by Maize (51%) and Wheat (33%).

Fox Nut (Makhana), Green Gram (Moong) and few other vegetables

were also rarely found in middle land. The productions were also

higher than that of the high land. Fox Nut (Makhana ) and Paddy are

the only crops found to be cultivated in low land, and that too was only

for 2-4% cases.

In Supaul, Paddy, Wheat and Moong are the main crops of in Upland.

35% of the farmers having uplands cultivate Paddy, 34% of farmers

cultivate Wheat and 23% cultivate Green Gram (Moong). Jute,

Mustard, Corn, Fox Nut (Makhana) and Potato are also being cultivated in uplands by few farmers. The same

three crops are the major crops of middle lands also. Apart from these, Corn, Mustard, Jute and Cauliflower are

also being cultivated by very few. In low lands, Paddy, Wheat and Mustard are the major crops, though Fox Nut

(Makhana), Green Gram (Moong), Red Gram (Masur) and Maize are also found to be cultivated in very few

lands.

As the sample families of Supaul have more area of cultivable land than that of the Saharsa and as only 77%

lowlands of Supaul are waterlogged (compared to 91% in Saharsa), both the number of crops and their

productivity level in Supaul are higher than that of Saharsa.

While comparing the productivity of the crops, it was found that the productivity is higher for most of the crops

cultivated inside the embankment than that of outside embankment.

Paddy, wheat and maize are the

major crops grown on upland

and medium land, while in low

lands, Fox Nut (Makhana) is

grown. Productivity levels in

Supaul are higher than in

Saharsa. Productivity level in

villages inside the embankment

is higher than that in villages

outside the embankment.


21

Table 5 Land Utilisation Pattern and Productivity

District Nature of

land

Name of

crop

Percentage of

farmers involved

Area grown

(Acre/ farmer)

Productivity (Quintal/ Acre)

Range Average

Saharsa Upland Paddy 22% 1 4 – 8 6.0

Wheat 19% 1 – 5 4 – 8 5.5

Maize 15% 0.5 – 5 16 – 32 21

Sesame 02% 1 – 3

Informants were unable to

report the productivity level

Black plum 02% 1 – 3

Green Grass 01% 3

Mehagini 01% 1

Patal 01% 2 20

G Gram 01% 1.5 12

Potato 01% 1 40

Medium

land

Paddy 82% 1 – 3 4 – 12 6.4

Maize 51% 1 – 6 4 – 20 17.9

Wheat 33% 0.5 – 4 2 – 10 5.9

Makhana 03% 0.5 – 3 1 – 6 2.3

G Gram 03% 1 – 2 0.25 – 2 2.1

Other

vegetable

01% 0.5 8

Low land Paddy 02% 0.5 – 1 4

Foxnut 04% 0.5 – 1 1- 2 1.3

Supaul Upland Paddy 35% 1 – 8 8 – 20 11.5

Wheat 34% 1 – 6 5 – 16 7.5

G Gram 23% 1 – 6 1 – 4 1.0

Jute 04% 1 6 – 12 10

Mustard 03% 0.5 0.5 – 1 0.5

Maize 02% 0.5 8 – 10 10

Makhana 01% 2 5 5.0

Potato 01% 0.5 20 20

Medium

land

Paddy 75% 1 – 15 4 – 30 20

Wheat 59% 1 – 15 5 – 18 8.5

G Gram 31% 1 – 10 1 – 2 1.1

Maize 07% 1 6 – 16 9.0

Mustard 04% 2 – 4 0.5 0.6

Jute 04% 0.5 – 1 8 – 16 12

Cauliflower 03% 1 10 – 20 13

Low land Paddy 31% 1 – 15 4 – 40 7.8

Mustard 29% 1 – 5 0.5 – 6 0.8

Wheat 24% 1 – 5 6 – 8 1.0

Fox Nut 05% 1 2 – 12 7.0

G Gram 05% 1 – 5 1 – 5 2.0

Red Gram 02% 2 1 – 2 1.5


22

District Nature of

land

Name of

crop

Percentage of

farmers involved

Area grown

(Acre/ farmer)

Productivity (Quintal/ Acre)

Range Average

Maize 01% 1 20 8.0

5.1.1.1 Soil Fertility Status of Farmer’s Fields

To study the existing soil fertility status of farmers’ fields, it was planned to collect soil test data from flood prone

districts. The soil test data pertaining to hundreds of farmers’ fields was taken from all blocks in Saharsa District

and were obtained from the Department of Soil Science Rajendra Central Agri. Univ., Pusa (Samastipur)). The

parameters analysed were soil pH, EC, Available NPK and micronutrients.

The soil test data indicated that

Soil pH: An indicator of soil health in terms of acidic/alkaline or neutral type of soil. With

the present set of data, it can be concluded that soil pH ranged from 4.55 to 9.93 with average value of 7.77.

The average value indicates that the soils of the district are slightly alkaline and it is suitable for most of the

crops grown in the area.

Soil Electric Conductivity (EC): An indicator of soil health in terms of quantum of soluble

salts in the soil. The EC of the samples ranged from 0.021 to 0.990 with a mean value of 0.202 dS m-1 that

is within normal limits.

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC %): Soil organic carbon (SOC) is estimated in laboratories to

measure the organic matter content in soil. It is source of energy for soil microorganism and maintains soil

nutrient availability to plants. Generally, it is interpreted as low (<0.5 %) medium (<0.5- 0.75 %) and

high(>0.75%) soil organic carbon. The soil test data of Saharsa revealed that soil organic carbon of farmers

field are varying from low to high (0.029 to 1.502%) with a mean value of (0.540 %) which is categorized as

medium.

Available Nitrogen (N Kg/ hectare): Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash are major plant

nutrients required by crops in large quantity. The normal range of soil N is from 250 to 500 Kg available N /

hectare. The majority of soil samples of Saharsa contained low to medium nitrogen with a mean value of

((246 kg per hectare) ranging from 95 to 502 kg N per hectare.

Available Phosphorous (P Kg/ hectare): The normal range of soil P is from 25 to 50 Kg

available P / hectare. The majority of soil samples of Saharsa contained low to medium P with a mean value

of 12.73 kg per hectare ranging from 0.58 to 70.48 kg P per hectare.

Available Potash (K Kg/ hectare): The normal range of soil K is from 125 to 300 Kg

available K / hectare. The soil test data revealed that majority of farmers’ field soils in Saharsa District

contains medium to high potash with a mean value of 155.0 kg K per hectare ranging from 44.0 to 505.0 kg

K per hectare. The detailed soil test data are provide at Annexure- I.

Micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn): Soil test data (Table 1) indicates that majority of soil

samples are deficient with respect to micronutrients content. The deficiency is increasing with minimal use of

organic manures in agricultural fields.

Table 6 Statue of micronutrients in soil of farmers’ fields of Saharsa District

Micronutrients/

Normal range

Fe

(ppm)

>7.00

Cu

(ppm)

>0.60

Zn

(ppm)

>0.78

Mn

(ppm)

>3.00


23

Saharsa District (overall)

Range and mean value

0.43 to 74.64

(20.01)

0.008 to 10.54

(2.638)

0.006 to 2.878

(0.645)

0.058 to 63.77

(8.91)

Package of practices:

a. Use of Soil amendment and river silt: The farmers of both the districts use manure (95% farmers in

Saharsa and 100% farmers in Suapul). Very rarely they use vermicompost. But they do not use Lime and

Gypsum. There was only one case, where they use river silt in agricultural land.

Table 7 Use of Soil Amendment and River Silt

Dist. Particulars soil amendment Use of river slit

Soil testing Manure Lime Gypsum Vermi-

compost

Saharsa Farmers using it (in percentage)

95% 0% 0% 1% 1% 1%

Doses they use (Quintal/ Acre)

1 – 2 --- --- 2 3500 cft/ 0.25 Acre

NA

Supaul Farmers using it (in percentage)

100% 0% 0% 1% 0% 0%

Doses they use (Quintal/ Acre)

1 – 1.3 --- --- 0.5 --- NA

b. Use of fertilizer and Pesticide: In Saharsa, all the farmers use fertilizer. For Paddy, Wheat and Maize they

use Diammonium phosphate(DAP), Urea and zinc, while for Fox nut (Makhana), Green Gram (Moong) and

potato they use DAP and Urea only. In Supaul, most of the farmers use fertilizer for Paddy and Fox Nut

(Makhana) culture. DAP and PU are the most common fertilizers used by them. For few cases, farmers use

these for the cultivation of Maize, Potato, Jute and Wheat. Farmers are using pesticides as and when need

arises. Chemical pesticide application is done mainly on rice and wheat crops to control major pests, only.

Annual income of the villagers (Supaul): All the families of Supaul

district depend on agriculture as primary means of occupation, though

99% families are engaged with livestock rearing also. Seasonal migration

is very common. One/ two family member(s) migrate to another state for

2-6 months in a year in search of additional income. Family members of

61% HHs earn wages as daily labour. Few families are engaged with the

collection of NTFP also.

Migration was found to be higher among the “inside embankment

villages” (family members from 43 HHs, out of 66, reported seasonal

migration, i.e. 65% families are migrating) than “outside embankment

villages” (18 families out of 35 families reported seasonal migration, i.e.

51% HHs are migrating) in Supaul district.

Their total annual income varies from 42 thousand to as much as 9.4 lakh. But most of the families earn less

than 2 lakh annually, the average being 1.6 lakh.

Agriculture, livestock rearing,

wage labour and migration are

the major livelihood options in

the area. One or two members

from more than 60% of families

migrate. Migration was found

to be higher among the “inside

embankment villages” than

“outside embankment

villages”.


24

Table 8 Livelihood Basket and Average Annual Income of HHs

Economic status

Agricultural Income (in INR)

Forest Based Income (in INR)

Income from NTFP Activities (in INR)

Income from Livestock Rearing (in INR)

Wage Income in local area (in INR)

Income from seasonal migration

Total annual income (in INR)

Families involved in a specific occupation

100% families

5% families

6% families 99% families 61% families

61% (Migration

period 2 - 6 months)

NA

Income range 19,600 – 719,000

5,000 – 10,000

3,000 – 10,000

6,000 – 240,000

6,000 – 186,000

9,000 – 108,000

42,200 – 939,800

Average income

94,100 6,400 6,333 42,501 14,655 36,120 161,673

Four Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with the HH residing in the villages both inside and

outside the embankments. Following is a brief of the discussion held during the conduct of FGDs.

FGDs in villages within the embankment

FGD with the villagers


25

FGD with the villagers

The village is situated within the embankment, under Baghwa Panchayt of Mahisi block, with 3 tolas in the

village- Porshahi, Khetwa and Paschmi tola and a total number of 568 households. The village is dominated by

the caste “Yadav”, followed by “Mistry”. One Mahadalit community (Dom) also resides here. Total area of the

village is around 750 acre, out of which 250 acre is now under river, 250 acre is agricultural land and rest 250 is

barren land (either very low land or the density of the sand in the soil is high). Most of the villagers are engaged

in agriculture. Five villagers have more than 10 acre agricultural land, 25-26 villagers have 3-5 acre lands,

around 100 HHs have 1-2 acre lands, 300 families have less than 1 Acre and rest of the families are landless.

The main crops of the village are Maize and Wheat. Paddy is also there but very rare. During raining season,

agricultural lands become flooded, and therefore, no agriculture is possible. Thus, most of the farmers move to

Punjab (from July to November) and engage as day labourers in Paddy field.

Another FGD was done in Kokhana village of Marauna block of Supaul District. This village is also within the

embankment. Boat is the only mode of transport to reach the village. It takes one hour in the boat from the

embankment to reach the village. The project team could not go to the village due to time constraint and non-

availability of boat at that point of time. Around 12 villagers were on this embankment and hence the project team

could have an interaction with them. Three of the villagers also had put some snack stalls. Upon discussion, it

was found that agriculture in Khariff season is not possible as entire area gets flooded. Summer paddy is the

most common crop in summer. The villagers temporarily shift to the embankment during rainy season. During

this period, at least one or two family members from each HH migrate to other states such as Haryana, Punjab,

Western Parts of UP and Delhi for labour works in search of work. As part of the rehabilitation work, the village

was displaced to another place outside the embankment. But the villagers were only given a piece of land for

construction of houses. Hence, most of the villagers have come back occupying both the lands: their original land

within the embankment and land given by Government. They continue to live in the same submerged conditions.

FGD with villagers just outside the embankment:

An FGD was conducted in Kandaha village of Mahisi block of Saharsa district. There are two Tolas in the

village- Varwar and Kandahar. The former one is having 300 households, while the later one has 160

households. The village is dominated by Kurmi, followed by Musahar (Maha Dalit) and Lala. The village is having

around 200 Acre land. One family has 8 Bigha land, 10 families have 3-5 Bigha lands, 35-45 families have 1-2

Bighaland, 25-30 families have less than 1 Bigha land and rest are landless.


26

Most of the agricultural land of the village remains waterlogged for

more than half of the year. The villagers informed that earlier these

lands used to be highly productive. But now-a-days no production is

possible. They were very upset to inform that earlier labours used to

come to their village from other villages, but now the situation is

totally reverse. About 98% of the villagers have become labour and

are moving to Punjab. Some of the villagers have migrated to Delhi,

Kolkata and even to Nepal in search of means of livelihood.

Seasonal migration was found in the cases, where people are

engaged as agricultural labour. They also added that a villager

within embankment and having 2 acre land is much more

economically sound than a villager of this outside village having 20

acre land. The condition is more or less same for other outside

villages within 4-5 km of the embankment. Due to water logging for

several consecutive months of each year, Malaria and Filaria are

prevalent here. Some of the villagers, having some upland, are engaged in the cultivation of maize and wheat.

But number of such cases is very few. The waterlogged lands are suitable for the culture of Makhana. But the

villagers informed that due to low selling rate, the profit margin is very low. As a result, they are not interested in

Makhana culture. Only one specific type of grass is suitable in this waterlogged land, but there is no use of that

grass. Some of the villagers bought the silt for making their homestay upland, but others are unable to do so.

Most of the agricultural lands of

the village are waterlogged for

more than half of the year. About

98% of HHs migrate to other

states. Due to water logging for

several consecutive months of

year, Malaria and Filaria are

prevalent. Aspiring grooms do

not get brides as girls from

outside villages hesitate to get

married and settled in such a

village with acute water logging

problem.

Waterlogged agricultural land- 5 km outside the embankment


27

Another FGD was conducted in Phukaha village of Kisanpur Sonte Panchayat of Kisanpur block of Supaul

district. The village has 1200 households settled in two hamlets. FGD

was conducted in Mandal hamlet of the village. The hamlet consisted

of 150 HHs, of which around 80 HHs were OBC and rest were SCs.

The project team visited the village in the month of June. In spite of

the peak summer season, most of the village land was waterlogged.

We could see water coming out of a bore well of its own without

usage of a pump set indicating the high level of water table in the

area. The project team could notice the presence of either the elderly

persons or the women folk. Younger generation was hardly seen in

the village. This was due to the high level of migration in the village.

Upon discussion with the women, it was found that women are taking

all responsibilities of HHs and feel overburdened. The lands are

mostly waterlogged till Rabi seasons. During the water logging period

a typical type of grass grows up which is of no use. In summer

season, to cultivate on those lands, the grass has to be first removed

and land has to be cleaned which fetches both labour and money.

The villagers pointed out that due to the waterlogging situation, the

cattle and other livestock do not get grazing land, hereby reduction in livelihood rearing has been found in the

village. The women folk expressed their deep concern on non-availability of land to attend their nature’s call.

6 Characteristics of Silt As it was necessary to know the characteristics of the silt that would be dredged, 40 samples were taken from

the river. 7 samples along the eastern embankment, 21 samples along the western embankment and 12

samples from the mid of the river were taken at various depths of 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-45 cm and 45-60 cm at

each location. The samples are taken randomly using ‘core sampler’/ ‘khurpi’ (Trowel) and by exposing soil

profile to collect soil samples from lower zones. These samples were sent to IIT Kanpur for analyzing the

chemical properties of the silt and to RPCAU, PUSA for analyzing the properties of silt from agriculture point of

view.

6.1.1 Chemical Characteristics

At IIT Kanpur, 20 silt samples were analysed as there was not much variation found in the analysis. XRF, XRD

and Sieve Analysis and Loss of Ignition (LOI) were done to understand the chemical properties of the silt. Refer

annexure-3 and 4 for details.

The chemical analysis of 16 selected silt samples has been presented

here. Analysis results indicate that the silt samples were

aluminosilicate minerals, although all the samples were highly

siliceous in nature. SiO2 present is the silt around 66.36 to 80.15%,

Al2O3 around 9.5 to 14.60%. Lowest SiO2 content was noted in

specimen 4 only 66.36% and Al2O3 content was as high as 14.60%.

Silt samples were

aluminosilicate minerals,

although all the samples were

highly siliceous in nature. SiO2

content in the silt was around

66.36 to 80.15% and Al2O3

around 9.5 to 14.60%.

Women folk expressed the

feeling of overburdened as their

partners migrate to other states

in search of livelihoods. Due to

prolonged water logging

situation, livestock do not get

grazing land and hence a pattern

of reduction of livestock rearing

is found. Women hardly find

places to attend to their nature’s

call. Filling up the waterlogged

lands with kosi silt to make these

lands upland was suggested by

the villagers.


28

Appreciable quantity of furrugenous impurities was noted in all the

samples. Fe2O3 present around 2.576 to 5.42%, TiO2 around 0.284

to 0.71%. Presence of ferruginous impurities in this proportion will

have profound effect on the firing colour of the specimen. In

addition to that presence of higher proportion of Fe2O3 content will

further reduce the maturing temperature of specimen. Significant

proportion of alkali oxide (K2O+Na2O) was also observed. Alkali

oxide content varied from 3.83 for sample 2 to 5.31% for sample 4.

Although K2O content in all the specimens was high, the presence

of muscovite mica may account for this high K2O content, but

presence of significant proportion of Na2O was also noticed. Higher

percentage of alkali oxides may be an indicative of conversion of

micaceous minerals into illitic minerals during weathering.

Presence of Na2O in appreciable quantity will definitely change the

alkalinity of the soil and agriculture department may look into this

phenomenon pertaining to fertility of the soil. Presence of alkaline

earth oxide (MgO+CaO) was also noted and their contribution was

within 5%, it varies from 2.278 to 4.34%. Although in specimen 4 &

5 presence of alkaline earth oxides content in the tune of 4.34%

has been noted. Presence of significantly high proportion LOI

values in most of the samples. It varies from 1.4 to 5.14%. Higher

LOI is due to presence of huge amount of Mica (8.89 to 51.64%) present in the silt.

XRD analysis of samples indicated

that major crystalline phase was

quartz, feldspar (plagioclase,

microcline) and Illite or hydrated

mica was observed as major

phase. Silt samples were essentially aluminosilicate minerals with quartz inclusion. Contribution of amorphous

phase was insignificant. Specimen no 1-16 contain quartz ranging from 45.31 (sample no 11WEN) to 81.44

(sample no 11). Feldspar

(plagioclase, microcline)

ranging from 3.05% (sample no

11WEN) to 29.36% (sample No

6). Mica/Illite ranging from

8.89% (sample no 10) to

51.64% (sample no 11WEN).

Whereas, other materials

ranging from 0 (sample no

11WEN,12, 13, 16) to 12.92%

(sample no 4). Further it was

also observed that sample no

11 WEN(west embankment

Nepal) has huge amount of

mica/illite and contains

Oxide Composition

Unit Value

SiO2 mass% 75.16881

TiO2 mass% 0.455476

Al2O3 mass% 11.19029

Fe2O3 mass% 3.50019

MgO mass% 1.442095

CaO mass% 1.752333

K2O mass% 2.731333

Na2O mass% 1.74681

P2O5 mass% 0.114762

NiO mass% 0.018381

MnO mass% 0.057667

Total 98.17814

Sr ppm 128.9048

Y ppm 36.66667

Zr ppm 276.7619

LoI 2.52

Bulk Mineralogy

Quartz Plag Feldspar+Microline

Mica/Illite Others (K+Ch+Amp)

38.75 41.79 53.15 39.41

Appreciable quantity of

furrugenous impurities was

noted in all the samples. Higher

proportion of Fe2O3 content will

have great effect on the firing

colour of the specimen and it

would further reduce the

maturing temperature of

specimen. High level of K2O

and Na2O was noticed which

will change the alkalinity of the

soil.

Silt samples were essentially

aluminosilicate minerals with

quartz inclusion. Major crystalline

phase was quartz, feldspar

(plagioclase, microcline) and Illite

or hydrated mica was observed

as major phase. In the sample

taken from western embankment

near the Nepal border has huge

amount of mica/illite and contains

minimum amount of quartz and

feldspar.


29

minimum amount of quartz and feldspar.

However, care should be taken in controlling the maturing range and judicious selection of composition is

necessary while incorporating the silt samples in production of low ceramic products to be utilized for commercial

application.

6.2 Fertility Status of Kosi Silt within the embankment

The soil samples were collected from different stretches of Kosi river ie East Embankment Mid of River and West

Embankment. The analysis work was carried out at soil testing lab, RAU, Pusa Samastipur (Bihar) to find out the

soil fertility status in different depth ie 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-45 cm and 45-60 cm. The parameters analysed

are soil pH, EC, Available NPK and micronutrients Table 9. It was observed that there is no significant difference

in soil properties at different depths and among samples of different stretches . Detailed report is attached at

Annexure 5 ).

Table 9 Soil fertility status in different stretches of Kosi river

Sl. No.

Group of Samples

pH EC (ds/m)

% OC

P205 (Kg/ha)

K2O (Kg/ha)

Sulphur (ppm)

Zn (ppm)

Cu (ppm)

Fe (ppm)

Mn (ppm)

B (ppm)

1 East Embankment (7) *

7.49 0.17 0.16 48.90 72.53 6.13 0.38 1.02 6.21 1.55 1.05

2 Mid of the River (12)

7.68 0.16 0.15 53.02 64.02 4.39 0.33 0.90 5.76 1.46 1.05

3 West Embankment Nepal (21)

7.81 0.18 0.15 49.21 68.27 6.05 0.31 0.93 5.61 1.56 1.18

Mean of all samples (40)

7.88 0.22 0.16 49.14 71.79 6.84 0.68 0.92 5.25 1.57 0.91

* Figures in parentheses indicate no. of samples analysed.

The soil test data indicates that

Soil pH : An indicator of soil health in terms of acidic / alkaline or neutral type of soil. With

the present set of data, it can be concluded that soil pH is normal in stretches ie East embankment, Mid of

River and West embankment with an average value of 7.88. The average value indicates that the soils in the

mid of river and near both the embankments are not alkaline and it is suitable for most of the crops grown in

the area.

Soil Electric Conductivity (EC): An indicator of soil health in terms of quantum of soluble

salts in the soil. The EC of the soil samples ranged in the safe limit with a mean value of 0.22 dS m-1

considering both the embankments as well as in the mid of river.

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC %): Soil organic carbon (SOC) is estimated in laboratories to

measure the organic matter content in soil. It is source of energy for soil microorganism and maintains soil

nutrient availability to plants. Generally, it is interpreted as low (<0.5 %) medium (<0.5- 0.75 %) and

high(>0.75%) soil organic carbon. The soil test data of Mid river soil and soils within East and West

embankments indicates that organic carbon content in the all stretches is low with a mean value of 0.22 %

which is less than average organic carbon content in soils of farmers fields in flood prone district Saharsa i.e.

0.540 % which is categorized as medium. It indicates that in case the soil /silt available within embankment

is dumped or used for landfills needs to be enriched with added organic manures.


30

Available Nitrogen (N Kg/ hectare): Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash are major plant

nutrients required by crops in large quantity. The normal range of soil N is from 250 to 500 Kg available N /

hectare. In the present study the soil samples obtained from different stretches of the river are not analyzed

separately for N content because the N status is indicated by organic carbon content. As all the soil samples

of between both the embankments are low in respect of organic carbon content with a mean value of ((0.22

%) indicating soil low in N content.

Available Phosphorous (P Kg/ hectare): The normal range of soil P is from 25 to 50 Kg

available P / hectare. The soil analysis data indicates that majority of soil samples collected near both the

embankments and mid of the river contains medium to high Phosphorous with a mean value of 49.14 kg

available P per hectare. It reflects the high Phosphorous minerals present in parent rocks where Kosi river

originates and flows. While using this soil for cultivation, there is no acute necessity to apply P fertilizers to

initiate crop cultivation.

Available Potash (K Kg/ hectare): The normal range of soil K is from 125 to 300 Kg

available K / hectare. The soil test data revealed that majority of embankment soils contains low potash with

a mean value of 71.79 kg K per hectare. For obtaining good yield, such soil should be enriched with K

containing organic manures or fertilizers.

Sulphur and Micronutrients (S, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn): Soil test data in table 9 indicates

that majority of soil samples are deficient with respect to micronutrients content. Sulphur is found less than

normal (10 ppm) in 85 % soil samples collected from soil near both the embankments and mid of the river,

irrespective of soil depth upto 90 cm. Soil samples taken from East Embankment are found high in Zn

content while soil samples of West Embankment and Mid of River are low in Zn content (0.78 ppm). Majority

of soil samples irrespective of depth and stretches are rich in respect of copper content (>0.60 ppm) while

only 17.5 soil samples are found above normal (>7 ppm) in respect of iron (Fe) content. All the soil samples

are found deficient (less than normal i.e. < 3.0 ppm Mn) in respect of Manganese content. In case of boron

(B) content, 1/3 samples are found deficient (B content < 0.5 ppm). The deficiency of this micronutrient can

be corrected by using organic manures and other soil amendments based on soil fertility of individual field

7 Proposed Commercial Usage of Silt

7.1 Land filling and Reclamation of Land:

Scope of Usage of Silt

During discussion with the residents of Phukaha village of Kisanpur Sonte Panchayat of Kisanpur block of

Supaul , majority of the farmers were very positive about the use of Kosi silt in the agricultural land. Once fertile,

most of their agri-land is waterlogged for last several years and, therefore, they are unable to cultivate anything

in these lands. They are of view that, if govt. supports the poor farmers in depositing silt in their respective

agricultural lands, it will be very helpful for them. Though the land will not be a fertile one instantly, but it will

become an upland. The farmers will then use fertilizer and other necessary materials for next 2-3 consecutive

years. They are very hopeful that, within this period their lands will again be fertile and ready for agriculture.

On the subject of dredging of silt and its possible usage in another village in Saharsa, the villagers expressed

that if the Government can fill their lands and make those lands upland, they will take care of converting the

lands into agricultural lands. The project team expressed apprehension in the quality of silt for agricultural

purposes. In reply, the villagers assured the team that for 2-3 years, the land might not be useful;, but over the


31

years with the usage of organic manure the lands could be converted into agricultural land. They said. “the lands

would be better than the waterlogged lands where nothing is possible”.

The team could also meet two local NGOs, one in Saharsa and another in Supaul. Kosi Seva Sadan is a local

NGO, working in the Mahisi block of Saharsa district since 1978. Started with adult education, the NGO slowly

shifted to right based approach. Currently they are working in 100 villages of four blocks (Mahisi, Mauhatta,

SimriBakhtiyarpur and Salkhua) of Saharsa district, most of which are located near to embankment. Mr. Rajendra

Jha, the MD of the organization and his team, is of view that before 50-60 years back, the nature of flood was

different. During that time also, flood occurred frequently. But the lands were dried within 3-4 days, or maximum

seven days. After that, the life used to be normal. But in recent years, after rainy season, the lands are being

waterlogged for 5-6 months. Most of the lands, earlier fertile and producing satisfactory crops, have become

unproductive land.

He suggested to use the silt of Kosi in agricultural land (near to

embankment) for making them upland. This will help to recover the

problem of water logging. Agricultural production will again be possible

after one/two year(s).

Gramyasheel, a local NGO based at Supaul, has been working in

Suapul since 1994 on various Rural Development issues such as

Education, Sanitation, SHG formation and Microfinance, livelihoods.

They have extensively worked in number of Villages both outside and

inside the Eastern and Western embankments of Kosi River. Their

rehabilitation work carried out during the 2008 Kosi floods was highly

appreciated by Govt., Corporate and community.

He was of the view that dredged can be used for filling up waterlogged

area and road construction. He also emphasized that a proper

drainage system has to be integrated with the entire plan with a detail

survey on the ground. The original system of sluice gate can be revamped.

Gramyasheel also worked as an implementing partner for a project titled “Promotion and Strengthening

Livelihoods of the Marginalized Communities with specific focus on Flood and Water logged Areas in Bihar” for

Centre for World Solidarity (CWS) funded by TATA Trust. Under the project reclamation of agriculture land

through improving the drainage in waterlogged area was a major focus area. His experience confirms that

community participation is a must for better implementation of any project. It not only brings local expertise,

ownership to the work, but cost minimizes the cost required to furnish the work. He also expressed the challenge

his team faced. For digging drainage channels, the farmers were reluctant to leave their land. In fact for this

same reason, their work was on halt for few months. But, with community participation, the issue could be

resolved.

Based on the discussion with residents of villages just outside the embankments, local NGOs and analysis of silt

properties from agriculture point of view, we propose to use Kosi river for filling up of waterlogged area and other

excavated fields as below.

• The agricultural fields which are low lying and prone to submergence during flood season; these fields

can be dumped with the bulk of silt.

Local NGOs suggested to use the

silt of Kosi river for filling up

waterlogged areas to revive the

agricultural lands. An on-field

survey and a proper drainage

system have to be an integral

part of the entire plan along with

possibility of revamping sluice

gates at the embankments.

Community participation has to

be ensured in design and

implementation of work resulting

in better implementation in a cost

–effective manner.


32

• The silt can be used for landfills / deeply excavated fields for brick making, roadside excavated fields

etc. The top layer of low lying lands dumped with silt needs to be improved to make it suitable for crop

cultivation. It can be done by adding organic manures and scraped fertile silt where existing top soil is

sandy and poor in terms of fertility status. After a few years of cultivation, the top layer of silt can be

converted to fertile agricultural fields.

The Demand Assessment:

According to Water Resource Department (WRD) of Bihar, 9.42 lha of land is waterlogged, which is about 10%

of the total state. Out of this, 8.35 lha of waterlogged area is in north bihar, which constitutes 15% of total

geographical area and around 23% of the cultivable land area.4

Water Resources Department (WRD) of Bihar also suggests that 1.82 lha of land is waterlogged east of the

eastern Kosi Embankment. Another report of the Special Task Force on Water logging (1988) of GoB says that

90,450 hectares land below the 145 feet contour line is waterlogged west of the western embankment of the

Kosi. North of this contour line another 33,749 hectares is reported to be waterlogged in Saharsa, Samastipur,

Darbhanga and Madhubani districts. This figure does not include chaurs (land depressions) measuring less than

50 acres (20 hectares). Thus, a total of 1.24 lha of land is waterlogged west of western Kosi embankment

bringing the total waterlogged land in the Kosi basin alone to 3.06

lha.

As per the estimates for extractable silt provided for various

stretches of river, silt is suggested to be dredged in mainly Supaul

district. From the waterlogged area of Supaul, we propose to fill

50,000 ha of land with at least 3 ft layer of silt, it would consume

around 457x106m3 of silt which is almost 90% of the extractable silt

deposited of 513.02x106m3 volume in Supaul district.

The soil test data indicates that the soil is not merely sand, but it

contains some amount of the essential plant nutrients required for normal plant growth. However, to obtain

sustainable crop production, the soil should be enriched with added organic matter or fertilizers. The filled-up

fields can further make more fertile by adding organic manure i.e. Farm Yard Manure, compost vermicompost or

other farm wastes. Adoption of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) approach can enhance the soil fertility

and crop productivity, rapidly.

Likely Benefits and Impact

Increased Area under Agriculture: It is proposed to fill up and reclaim 50, 000 ha of land in Supaul district so

that they get converted into agricultural lands. Hence the area under khariff and rabi cultivation in Supaul would

increase by 50, 000 ha each.

Increased production and Income of HH: It is estimated that around 50, 000 hectares area is low lying in the

flood prone district Supaul alone. In this large area, crop cultivation is almost impossible during rainy/ flood

season. Therefore, it may be suggested if the dredged silt is applied in these low lying fields, the precious land

resource may be brought under crop cultivation. Presently, crops like paddy, maize, Green Gram (moong), Fox

nut (makhana), vegetable, etc. are cultivated in middle and uplands in the same area. Similar crops can be

grown in this reclaimed low lying area by adding organic manures and fertilizers.

4 The problems and Prospects, Water Resource Department, GoB

50, 000 ha of waterlogged land in

Supaul district can be filled up

with a layer of 3 ft consuming 90%

of the extractable silt deposited in

Supaul. To obtain sustainable

crop production, the soil should

be enriched with added organic

matter or fertilizers and other

practices.


33

As reflected in the house hold survey conducted during the present study, 46% sample families are having low

land with land size ranging from 0.5 to 7 Acres. Considering, Maize, Green Gram (Moong) and Paddy are grown

in proportion of the land, an increased production and an additional income can be achieved by farmers of

Supaul district as estimated below in table 13. This would also enhance HH food security levels.

Table 10 Estimated income of farmers from reclaimed land area in Supaul

Sl. No.

Name of crop

Additional Area to be covered (ha)

Av. Productivity (Quintal/ Ha)

Av. Market Price (Rs. )

Expected income (Rs)/ ha Projected income from the reclaimed area under the crop (Rs) per annum

Existing in middle land

Projected in reclaimed land

Gross (Rs)/ ha

Net (Rs)/ ha

Paddy 10000 50.0 25.0 1800 45000 22500 225 lakhs

Moong 20000 4.4 4.0 5000 20000 10000 200 lakhs

Maize 20000 36.0 20.0 1300 26000 13000 260 lakhs

Total 50000 685 lakhs

Initially, the productivity may be low but over the years by adopting integrated nutrient management approach,

the area can be converted to a fertile piece of land leading to doubling the farmer’s income.

Reduced Level of Migration: There are an estimated 4.4 to 5 million labour migrants from Bihar working in the

other parts of the country (IIPA, 2010). However, this trend appears to have risen sharply in the last few years.

The proportion of migrant workers to total workers rose from 16 percent in 1998--‐99 to 25% in 2009--‐10. 1 in 4

workers are migrants. The household survey done under the study reveals that 65% of households migrate

seasonally as the agricultural field are mostly waterlogged and un productive. In search of employment, atleast

one member from the household migrates. With filling up of waterlogged area and enhanced area under

cultivation, the men folk would like to come back to their village. This would lead to check of forced migration to

some extent and also contribute to sharing of work load of women who used to take care of work as well as the

fields in absence of their husbands.

Enhanced Area available for villager for defecation: It was found during one of FGDs that due to water

logging, land is barely available for defecation. In fact during rainy season, when the field is filled with water,

villagers use boat for the same. The villagers expressed the unhygienic conditions prevail during the rainy

seasons as human waste float over the water in the waterlogged fields. Though, under Swatch Bharat Mission,

toilets are to be created, the villagers complained of not receiving the facility. With the filling up of waterlogged

area, this issue would be reduced to some extent.

Reduced level of prevalence of Malaria, Falaria etc: As waterlogged area will be reduced, mosquitoes won’t

find the brooding place. It would result to reduction in prevalence of such infections.

Enhanced Availability of Land for Livestock: During FGDs with residents of the waterlogged areas of Supaul,

it was found that during to continuous waterlogging conditions of fields, there is no availability of land for grazing

for livestock. Hence, a decreasing trend of rearing livestock has been found in the area. With the conversion of

waterlogged area into uplands, the livestock would get more area for grazing and hence the current trend of

livestock rearing can be reversed with enhanced ownership of livestock among the HHs.


34

7.2 Agriculture Purpose

The Possibility of Usage

The project team met and discussed with Dr B P Bhatt, Director and other Soil Scientists, ICAR – Research

Complex for Eastern Region (ICAR-RCNR) Patna. They shared the information on small work done by them

on soil of Kosi area near village Biraul / Jagatpur of Bihar. They reported that the soils are loamy sand in plough

layer (0-30 cm) and poorly fertile which needs additional inputs to cultivate.

The project team also visited RCAU Campus Pusa and Dholi and discussed with Dr. Devendra Singh Proff.

Agronomy & Director, Seed Division. Based on his experience of working in Kosi area, he pointed out that in

general, soils of main stream are sandy and contains less nutrients while soil fertility gradually increases as

preceded away from the main stream within the embankments. That soil/ silt may be utilized for agricultural

fields which are having poorer soil fertility.

The team also contacted K N Pathak, Principal Tirhut Agriculture College, Dholi and Dr R C Yadav, Chairman,

Soil Science Division and Dr Shankar Jha, Soil Scientists Department of Soil Science, RCAU, Pusa (main

campus), Dr Mritunjay Kumar and Dr Umesh Singh, Saharsa Agriculture College Agwanpur (Saharsa) and other

soil scientists. It was learnt that the Soil Science division of the University is implementing and working on

National Agriculture Initiative Project (NAIP) on soil since last 8 years. Dr Yadav was of the opinion that

Kosi silt is quite different from Ganga Silt in terms of its composition.

Kosi river silt is inferior to soils of farmers’ field located away from the embankment.

At present, agricultural use of Kosi silt is very rare as it contains less fraction of fine silt or

clay.

Farmers are cultivating crops within embankment area where soil is relatively fertile but

farmers may not allow dredging that soil for transport to other places.

They also appreciated the proposal of team that MG NREGA may be a good suggestion if

linked with any farming related action.

Though, the university has not conducted any study on use of Kosi silt but is working on

soil test-based crop response studies.

The team met with representative of ATMA, Saharsa. He provided the agricultural profile of the district and

informed that silt is not suitable for using in agricultural land, as the percentage of humus5 is very less in silt. The

team also contacted with the DPD of ATMA, who is of opinion that this silt can be used for preparing compost pit.

5Humus is soil consisting of dead and decaying organic matter. It is mainly organic in content, but some inorganic particles may be mixed in it. The top soil in a tropical forest may be considered as humus.


35

The team also visited and met with Mr. Ranjan Balan, Project Director ATMA, Mr. A. S. Pathak, District

Programme Officer JEEVIKA, Mr. Dhanajay Kumar Jha, Agricultural Officer – ATMA, Supaul. Department

of Agriculture, Supaul has conducted an experiment in a flood affected area which has become useless for

Agriculture. High density Banana Plantation was taken up with all inputs starting from imported clay and silty

loam soil, various Nitrogen fixing Bacteria, Green Manure crops, bio wastes and Chemical fertilizers. Now this

particular experiment has given a confidence to the department that these soils can be brought back into

Agriculture / Horticulture once treatment is done, but the costs are very high.

They have a programme called BADP – Border Area Development Programme. They found that the yields are

gradually increasing, when Reclamation and some additions are taken up for the soil. It was also informed that

the soil fertility has increased in most of the areas in Madhepura District.

Upon sharing of idea of dredging and filling up waterlogged area with Kosi river silt, ATMA team appreciated the

idea and suggested a package to be recommended for reclamation of land that would include crops to be grown

and organic manure and other nutrient enhancement measures.

The soil test data as detailed in sub-section 5.2 indicates that the soil is not merely sand but it contains

some amount of the essential plant nutrients required for normal plant growth. Hence, agricultural field

with very poor fertility content can be recommended to use Kosi silt. However, to obtain sustainable

crop production, the soil should be enriched with added organic matter or fertilizers.

7.3 In ceramic Industry:



36

From the analysis of silt from Kosi river as presented in sub section

5.2, it was found that all the samples were practically non-plastic in

nature irrespective of their sources. When ceramic products are

made from its raw materials all raw materials invariably contain iron

as impurity. Iron is one of the most undesirable impurities for making

ceramic product. Very limited amount is permissible in different ceramic products. Here, Kosi river silt has

appreciable quantity of iron oxide and TiO2. So, Kosi silt can’t be recommended for utilisation in high value

ceramic products.

It was further found that all silt specimens were contaminated with mica and micaceous impurities irrespective of

their location. These impurities must be removed as for as possible before their useful ceramic products. It was

found that the presence of mica impurity damages the properties of ceramic product to large extent. In some

cases, it would make fabrication process difficult. By sieving through suitable sieve fine refraction of micaceous

impurities can be removed. But it still contained finer mica minerals. There are several processes to removed

mica but care should be taken that process should not increase the price of the raw materials. Therefore, there

should be a balance between price and process.

Experiments with Kosi Silt for Ceramic Products:

Keeping the results of chemical analysis of the silt sample, the project team experimented with sample of silt.

The experimentation was led by Dr. Pyare, Proff, IIT Varanasi. The team tried to utilize the silt in making low

value added products such as wall tiles, insulation refractory, paving block, common building bricks, sanitary

ware items etc. Information on some of the products is given below.

Preparation of wall tiles:

Tile is prepared by semi dry process using 25 wt.% kosi-river silt, 20 wt.% fly ash, 15 wt.% glass cullet and 40

wt.% ball clay as ingradients. At first collected silt was washed in the water and dried at room temperature. The

silts were wet milled, water as grinding media for 10hrs with 300rpm with the weight ratio of balls to powder are

5:1. Then the milled mass was dried at 110°C and passed through 150-micron sieve. Collected fly ash was

sieved through 90-micron sieve and glass cullet is crushed and ground up to a particle size ≤75μm. Ball clay and

feldspar were sieved through 150 micron sieve. Later all the ingradients were dry mixed in the ball milled for 6hrs

with 300rpm and then least amount of water was added for semi dry mixing. The mass was filled into a 5 inch × 5

inch steel mould and pressed under the uniaxially hydraulic pressed at a pressure of 250MPa and green wall tile

was sintered at 1000°C for 4hrs in air atmosphere with a heating rate of 2°C/minto yield a unglaze tile body.

Various properties of wall tiles: Table 11 Properties of Wall Tiles

S. No. Property Value

1 Apparent porosity (%) 3.64

2 Water absorption (%) 2.13

3 Shrinkage (%) 8.57

4 Compressive strength (MPa) 67

5 Flexural strength (MPa) 19

Kosi silt cannot be used for making

high value ceramic products. Mica

content of Kosi river needs to be

taken care.


37

Preparation of Insulation refractory:

Insulating brick is prepared by semi dry process using 35 wt.% kosi-river silt, 30 wt.% fly ash and 35 wt.% ball

clay as ingradients. All the raw materials were dry mixed in the ball milled for 4hrs with 300rpm and then least

amount of water was added for semi dry mixing. Then the mass was filled into a 1 inch cube steel mould and

compressed under the uniaxially hydraulic pressed at a pressure of 120MPa and green brick was fired at 900°C

for 4hrs in air atmosphere with a heating rate of 2°C/min to yield a insulation refractory.

Table 12 Properties of Insulation Refractory



2 Bulk density (gm/cc) 1.09

3 Linear shrinkage (%) 5.84

4 CCS (MPa) 15.53

5 Flexural strength (MPa) 4.47

6 Thermal conductivity at 600°C (W/m-K) 1.16

Preparation of paving block:

Figure 8 Image of sintered raw wall tile Figure 9 Micrograph image of wall tiles surface

Figure 10 Image of sintered insulation refractory brick Figure 11 Scanning electron microscopy image of insulation refractory brick


38

Paving block is prepared by using 45 wt.% kosi-river silt, 20 wt.% aggregates (2 to 5 mm) and 35 wt.% cement

as ingradients. The raw materials were dry mixed for 20 min and then 15wt% of water is added for casting. The

mass was filled into a 2.5 inch cube steel mould and casted by vibro-caster for about 10 min. Then cast block is

de-moulded after 24 hrs and cured in water for 28 days at room temperature. Table 13 Properties of Paving Block


1 Water absorption after (%) 4.36


3 Compressive Strength after 3 days (MPa) 27.45

4 Compressive Strength after 28 days (MPa) 51.63

From the results of the experiments conducted with the Kosi silt, it can be concluded that the low value ceramic

products can be made from the silt. To make high value product, care should be taken during impurity removal,

cost may be increased.

The Demand Assessment

Cement concrete tiles and paving blocks find applications in pavements, footpaths, gardens, passenger waiting,

sheds, bus-stops, industry and other public places. The product is commonly used in urban areas for the above

A lot of face-lift is being given to roads, footpaths along the roadside. Concrete paving blocks are ideal materials

on the footpaths for easy laying, better look and finish. Whereas the tiles find extensive use outside the large

building and houses, lots of these materials are also used in flooring in the open areas of public offices and

commercial buildings and residential apartments. In Supaul district, pavings blocks are used in all Government

offices, park, on both sides of the railway lines. The experiments conducted with Kosi silt shows that the paving

blocks can be made from Kosi silt. Hence, there is a huge potential for usage of silt, though silt would be

consumed in small quantity. As setting up of a unit for paving block does not reqire much investment, local

entrepreneurship can be promoted with some financial assistance of the state.

7.4 Raising level of Houses:


Upon discussion with the villagers on the idea of dredging the silt

and its possible uses, the villagers appreciated the idea and

suggested to dump the silt in each village so that the villagers

individually can raise the level of their houses which would protect

their houses to some extent. During the FGDs in villages inside the

embankment, it was found that the households with slightly high

economic condition use the river silt to make it upland and built their

houses. But the low income groups reported that due to lack of money, they cannot do so and therefore, face

problem during frequently occurring flood. The above suggestion was reemphasized by local NGO: Kosi Seva

Sadan, Saharsa. Altogether there are 380 villages with around 2 million populations within the eastern and

western embankment. As discussed during a FGD in a village in Maruna block of Supaul district, as part of the

rehabilitation work, the village was displaced to another place outside the embankment. But the villagers were

The silt can be utilised to raise the

level of houses in villages living

inside the embankment. This would

protect the houses to some extent.


39

given only with piece of land for construction of houses. Hence, most of the villagers have come back occupying

both the lands: their original land within the embankment and land given by Government. They continue to live in

the same sub-merged conditions. Hence, houses of villagers who preferred to live inside the embankment can

be raised so that they are protected from the floods to some extent.

7.5 Forestry and Horticulture The project team met the Director, Mr. R.B. Singh, Department of Ecology and Environment and discussed

with him on scope of Kosi silt utilization in forest nurseries or other purposes. He mentioned that department is

maintaining nurseries at block and district levels and grow around 20 lakh sapling of forest species every year.

The saplings are grown in a mixture of coarse silt, sand and FYM (4:1:1) and the total materials consumed is

around 20 lakh Kg (2000 tons). According to him Kosi silt is not suitable for usage in raising saplings as the

silt is very fine and do not provide a conducive environment for seedlings to grow. Moreover, he highlighted that

if at all it can be used, the volume of silt that can be consumed will be very small. He also highlighted that the silt

will not be beneficial for agricultural purpose as the agricultural fields in the kosi belt already have layers of

silt over them. He suggested the project team to explore the possibility of usage of silt for brick making and road

construction.

7.6 Brick Making


In order to understand the current practices of brick making and explore the scope of usage of silt of Kosi river,

the study team met with various brick manufacturers in Patna, Saharsa and Supaul with the support of the

Industry department. The team covered both kinds of brick manufacturers: Flyash6 and fired for the purpose of

the study.

With the introduction of Mr. Umesh, Deputy Director, Department of Industry, the project team visited office of

industry department of Patna district and could interact with two entrepreneurs from brick manufacturing industry.

i. Brick Manufacturers at Patna:

Mr Chandra Shekar Prasad has a brick manufacturing unit of installed capacity of producing 10 lakhs flyash

bricks annually. He has invested around Rs.3.5 crore on his brick making unit. He is also the president of

association of flyash brick manufacturers. At present, there are 200 flyash brick manufacturing units in Bihar

with a cumulative installed capacity of producing 10 crore bricks annually. The raw materials used for

making flyash bricks are flyash, sand and OPCC for mixing both the materials. NTPC has five running thermal

power plants in Bihar and another three plants are yet to be operational. The capacity of producing flyash of two

thermal plants is sufficient for all brick manufacturers in Bihar.

6Flyash is a byproduct of power generation with coal. Sustainable ash utilisation is one of the key concerns at NTPC. The

Ash Utilisation Division (AUD), set up in 1991, strives to derive maximum usage from the vast quantities of ash produced at its power stations. The ash is now being looked at as a commodity that could generate wealth for the company in the long run. The AUD proactively formulates policies, plans and programmes for ash utilisation. It further monitors the progress in these activities and works for developing new segments of ash usage. Ash Utilisation Cell (AUC) at each station handles ash utilisation activities. Research has shown that the quality of fly ash produced at NTPC’s power stations is extremely good with respect to fineness, low unburnt carbon and has high pozzolanic activity and conforms to the requirements of IS 3812 - 2003-Pulverized Fuel Ash for use as Pozzolana in cement, cement mortar and concrete. The fly ash generated at NTPC stations is ideal for use in the manufacture of cement, concrete, concrete products, cellular concrete products,

bricks/blocks/ tiles etc. (Source: http://www.ntpc.co.in/en/environment/ash-utilisation)

http://www.ntpc.co.in/en/environment/ash-utilisation


40

In last financial year, he did not do any business, the production was completely shut. The reason was that

Government is the only client for flyash bricks as flyash bricks are still not much popular and accepted among the

general mass. Though, Government has passed a regulation of cease of production of fired bricks, the

regulation is hardly implemented on ground. There is also one more regulation that in and around 100 kms of a

thermal power plant, all construction should be done using flyash bricks. But, unfortunately this regulation is also

not implemented. Hence, Government is the only client for flyash brick manufactures. Last year, there were not

much construction projects. Two major problems contributed to the situation. First, there was a regulation that for

construction of a building with more than 20,000 sqm built up area, it has to go through a social impact

assessment which was not accepted and implemented by majority of the contractors. The second issue was of

sand mining. Government had stopped sand mining for a period as rules and norms related to sand mining were

not followed.

According to Mr. Prasad, Kosi silt is not suitable for brick making as the silt is very fine. For brick making,

medium coarse sand is required. If the silt is very fine, it would require more binding materials as there will be

more number of surfaces. But, he was open if the coarse sand from main river bed is taken out.

Mr. Akshay Kumar ( 9334280929 ) who has represented Brick manufacturers Association (100 feet above

Chimneys ) mentioned that the clay and sand from Ganges with in the vicinity of Patna is the best material for top

quality bricks. No fine silt from Kosi is used because of its nature and quality bricks can not be made out

of the fine silt.

ii. Brick Manufacturers at Saharsa:

The team met with local brick manufacturer- Mr. Bablu in Saharsa district. Just one year back, he started this

business, once he came to know that the importance for restricting the excavation of top soil for manufacture of

bricks and promoting the utilization of flyash in the manufacture of building materials and in construction activity

was recognized by the Govt., and it was notified that within a radius of 100 km from a coal or lignite-based

thermal power plant, all brick making units must compulsorily utilize 25% of fly ash (by weight). The nearest plant

is Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Station (KhSTPP) located in Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district (Apprx. 80 km

from Saharsa).

His factory has a capacity of manufacturing 6,000 bricks in one round. The brick is made of three components-

Flyash,Sand and Cement. Riven silt is not being used currently. He collects Flyash from thermal power of

Bhagalpur, sand from a local contractor (from a local river; he could not recall the name of the river) and cement

Flyash Brick Factory of Mr. Bablu


41

from Riliance (having dealership). All the materias are easilty available. No agreement is needed for collecting

Flyash. Only problem is that there are some middle men, to whom money has to be given for collecting the

Flyash. Transportation cost is 200/- per tonn for Flyash, 500/- per tonn for sand and 325/- per bag of 50 kg

cement.The pick season for making brick is March-June. He sells this product to individual households or private

contractors. He does not sell to Govt. contractor for payment issue. No credit facility is available in his business.

He is of opinion that, if we dig atleast 6 feet in the Kosi river, we can get the sand that will be suitable for

making Flyash brick.

The team met with another brick manufacturer- Mr. Anil Kumar of the same district. He has a general brick

factory. The capacity of the factory is 7 lakh per round. Four rounds are possible in a year. He informed that

general red brick is made of 90% soil and 10% sand. He does not have any idea, whether Kosi river silt can be

used for brick making or not. But his logic is that as bricks are being made of Ganges silt, then Kosi silt may also

be possible. He mentioned that though the soil is available currently, and he is collecting it within 4-5 km easily,

but a crisis of the supply of soil may be created after few years, as slowly the lands are being filled up by

building. During that period, river silt may be a good alternative.

iii. Brick Manufacturers at Supaul:

Mr. Kuldeep Chowdhary, Pipariya village owns a manufacturing unit of capacity of producing 5 lakhs bricks in a

round. It has a capacity to produce four rounds, but currently he is able to take only two rounds because of the

un-season rainfall. The Manufacturing period is between October / November to March / April while marketing is

mostly throughout the year but the peak season is from January to June. For manufacturing 5 lakhs of bricks, his

total investment for one round is around 30 lakhs that includes Cost of Land Lease , Cost of soil, Transportation

cost, Labour cost, Burning Cost, losses and Taxes and other Miscellaneous costs. He sells at price at an

average price of Rs. 6.5 per brick. Hence the net margin is hardly Rs. 2.5 per brick. He was of the view that for a

moderate entrepreneur if he has to sustain the business he has to produce a minimum of 15.00 lakh Bricks per

annum.

The raw materials used for fired brick is soil and sand in 90:10 ratio. He is of the opinion that Kosi silt cannot be

used replacing soil as raw material. Currently he uses Kosi silt in moulds of brick before the soil mixture is

poured. The consumption of silt for this purpose is minuscule. Moreover, In the area Red colour bricks are

preferred; the black colour of Kosi river silt is another factor for people not preferring this silt along with

its fine sand content. In Supaul, flyash bricks are not much popular as reported by GM, Department of

Industries, Supaul.


With the discussion with brick manufacturers, it was found that Kosi silt is not much useful for brick making

because of its nature, especially in case of fired bricks. Though there is a Government circular on closure of fired

brick manufacturing units and promotion of flyash brick, there is a need to address both the demand and supply

side issues for the flyash bricks. Currently, the flyash bricks are mostly purchased and used for Government

projects. The local people living in rural area, especially in Supaul prefer fired brick over the flyash one. There is

a need to systematically build this demand. With over 5,700 authorized brick kilns the state Bihar produces

around 17 billion bricks per year and the sector is growing at 9%.

The Likely Benefits and Impact

The main fuel used for firing bricks in the Fixed Chimney Kilns is coal. However, the use of firewood has also

been observed in some instances especially during the initial firing period. Coal consumption is in the range of

20-25 ton/lakh bricks produced and, on an average, breakage losses are greater than 10%. In the state of Bihar


42

Local vehicle returning back after unloading Kosi silt on one the lands

around 60,000 tonnes of wood is used in brick production each and every year. The wood is used primarily

during the initial firing to dry up excessive moisture. However most of the wood is sourced illegally from nearby

and adjoining forests. This amount of wood is equivalent to around 300,000 full grown trees which takes around

20 years to grow. This type of rampant use of full grown trees will certainly lead to uncontrollable deforestation

depleting the forest cover of the state of Bihar. It was observed that the major raw material used in brick making

is soil consuming around 16,500,000m3 of soil per year. No instances of alternate materials and products were

prevalent in Bihar. 90% of the brick making soil is procured from agricultural land with only 10% from river bed.

This rampant use of agricultural soil is leading to a loss of around 5,500 acres of fertile agricultural land per year.

This land otherwise would have supported the production of 7,000 tons of rice. Thus, use of brick making through

agricultural soil is making 1,10,000 people suffer due to loss of food grain. According to the mining department,

in 2016-17, there are 75 operational brick kilns available in Supaul district producing 19.4 lakhs bricks in a year.

If the fired brick units are replaced with the flyash brick units, it would save around 15, 00 tons of coal which is a

depleting resource along with restricting the loss of agricultural land and ultimately the food grain.7

7.7 Construction of Road:


The team met with GM, Dept. of Road Construction, Saharsa. He informed that they give all road construction

project works to the contractors through tender. All the raw materials are being purchased by the contractors.

Except few cases (area very near to Kosi embankment), currently they are not using Kosi silt for road

construction. He also informed that currently the sand is being collected from Son river. He is in view that, if the

quality of the sand of Kosi is as good as Son, then the sand of Kosi river can also be used. Sand/ Silt of the

river can be used for widening the road or increasing the height of the road. It can also be used in

making paving block. He informed that the volume of soil, needed for construction of 1 Km road, depends on

the nature of land (high/ low) and the width of the road. For constructing 1 km road, minimum 4,500 m3 soil is

needed. In next two years (2017-18 & 2018-19) they have a plan for constructing 47 km road.

7 Report on brick industry of Bihar by Development Alternative


43

The project team also met with Mr. Arun Kumar, Dpty., Executive Engineer, Road Construction Department,

Supaul. He as of the view that while there is a good scope for implementing the usage of fine sand from Kosi

river bed into their different roads, only a notable/ reasonable portion of the soil is only used because of the

DPRs made by consultants who very critically look into costing of transport of sediment soil from Kosi river.

Technical parameters like Plasticity, Bonding nature, Bearing the load test ( CBR – California Bearing Ratio )

capacity and Compaction test results are very poor for the Kosi sand hence the the Consultants are constrained

to recommend this soil. Stone dust has to be invariably be used even if the transport cost is high. But most of

the village single roads and for Flanking of all types of roads the silt is being used. Construction of district

road comes under the department, while construction of village roads comes under Rural development and

Panachayati Raj Department.

It can be recommended to use the Kosi river silt for road construction only for the roads, which are

located within 15 km radius of the river, so that it is cost-effective. Majority of the nearby areas of Kosi

river emphasize that the silt is given for constructing rural roads & minor district roads.


The road construction of the state is divided basically into the following three categories:

National Highways, which are the properties of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and

maintained by Road construction department, Govt. of Bihar.

State highways and major district roads, also known as PWD roads, which are the property of Road

Construction Department.

Rural roads & minor district roads, which are constructed by Rural Works Department under different

schemes like Gramin Tola Sampark Nischay Yojna - (GTSNY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak

Yojana (PMGSY), Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, Minimum Needs programme (MNP) etc.

Excluding 4,594 km of National Highways (NH), Bihar has a road network of 147,204 km, of which 14,887 km

(about 10 percent) is under the Road Construction Department (RCD) and is classified as State Highways (SH)

and Major District Roads (MDRs), while 127,723 km (about 90 percent) is under the Rural Works Department

(RWD). Bihar has constructed about 60,000 km of rural roads in the last decade but still has a big task ahead. As

part of the state government’s priority of “road connectivity for all habitations1”, Bihar has already provided road

access to 51 percent of its habitation, leaving a balance of 49 percent. About 60 percent of the existing rural road

network is unpaved and is in poor condition. The network has developed mainly through improvements of

existing tracks in bits and pieces2 and has several deficiencies such as missing linkages, dilapidated bridges or

absence of bridges, inadequate geometry, poor drainage, weak pavements, and missing road safety measures.

The network has also suffered severe damage due to floods, lack of maintenance, inadequate quality of initial

construction, and overloading in some parts of the state. Inefficient sector management has not helped the

situation. 8

The Government of Bihar (GoB) has established three key priorities for its rural roads program: (i) to provide all-

weather road connectivity to the remaining 42 percent unserved rural habitations; (ii) to preserve the existing

road assets and upgrade them to acceptable standards; and (iii) to improve institutional effectiveness of RWD.

As reported in report on brief industrial profile of Supaul ,in Supual the length of district and rural roads is 421 km and registered kachha road is 245 kms.

8 Rural Roads for Bihar, A world Bank Project


44

In spite of GoB’s priority for rural roads and existence of 245 kms of kaccha roads, the analysis of Government’s plan for rural road construction in Supual is not much encouraging. In Supaul, hardly 15 and 21 Kms of rural road are to be constructed under GTSNY and PMGSY respectively in 2017-18. Focusing on construction of rural roads and usage of Kosi silt for construction can serve the twin

purpose of proving all-weather road connectivity the unserved rural habitations and usage of the dredged silt.

Likely Benefits

Rural roads are the basic infrastructure requirement and play a vital role in socio-economic upliftment of

rural community. They contribute significantly in rural development by creating opportunities to access

goods and services located in nearby villages or major town/market centres. Provision of rural roads

increases mobility of men and materials thus facilitating economic growth. These, in turn, assist in

reducing poverty and leads over all social development.

According to Impact Assessment Study of Improved Rural Road Maintenance System under PMGSY conducted

in 2015. The key findings were

When the roads were built, many farmers shifted to crops that were considered feasible and more

profitable with the new connectivity.

Most of the roads built in rural areas resulted in significant savings in travel time and cost to reach the

market.

More farmers are sourcing better agricultural inputs and services where the roads are maintained. The

same was noticed in other allied activities like livestock and poultry etc.

The study also brought out that post construction of rural roads, the employment scenario also improved

significantly.

Many new income opportunities and small enterprises have flourished simply due to rural roads.

Access to health facilities also improved post construction of the road and very substantial and critically

important time is saved.

Education scenario has improved.

In Supaul district, there are 526 habitat villages with a population of 2,220,976, which an average population of

4238 per village. Considering 42% of state habitations are currently un-served, around 221villages with a

population of 936,222 persons can be benefited through construction of rural roads.

7.8 Usage for Repair of Embankments The embankment has been damaging very frequently. To protect the embankment, it was suggested by Kosi

Seva Sadan, Saharsa to deposit this silt on two sides of the embankment (up to the height of embankment).

Bamboo plantation in this extended area can also act as safeguard. Kosi silt filed in guinea bags is being

currently used by the Flood Control Department. Before the onset of rainy season, the department takes

appropriate actions to indentify the areas in which the water level in Kosi has raised, accordingly flood control

measures are taken by the department.


45

8 Summary and Major Recommendations This study highlights that river silt is not a ‘waste’ but an important ‘resource’, if managed properly. Large

volumes of silt have accumulated in the channel belt of the Kosi river over the last few decades. This has

affected the longitudinal connectivity of the river and has raised the bed level of the river increasing the flood risk

manifold in several reaches. Not only that a sustainable strategy for dredging/desiltation is required for the Kosi,

commercial uses of the silt need to be established to make this solution viable. There are very significant benefits

of silt in several sectors and it is worthwhile to design a policy framework and a few demonstration projects to

promote the large-scale use of silt. This will not only help in dealing with river siltation problem and associated

hazards but will also generate alternative livelihood and improve the socio-economic condition of the people

living in this region. Some of the major recommendations from this report are as follows:

1. A large-scale use of silt in agriculture sector is feasible. Although the Kosi silt is slightly deficient in nutrient

value but this can be supplemented by using improved seeds and organic manures for improving the

fertility. It is recommended that a few demonstration projects may be designed by the Agriculture

department.

2. Another major use of silt is in road construction although transport costs and dredging limitations are

important constraints for major highway projects. However, minor roads including village roads can

effectively utilise the river silt from Kosi and its tributaries with proper planning to ensure the availability of

silt.

3. More important uses of silt are possible in reclaiming lowland and waterlogged areas. This will also protect

the villages from recurring floods. Keeping in view that the problem of waterlogging is so serious that a

large population from this region is migrating in search of new livelihoods, this measure would have

multiplier effect. This needs to be explored further and perhaps a few demonstration projects may be

designed by the Water Resource department, Government of Bihar as a follow-up action.

4. Use of Kosi silt for brick manufacturing is a viable option but not being practiced extensively. Locally

available flyash and/or top soil are preferred options in this region, but the use of river silt can be promoted

with regulated sand extraction from the river bed. Kosi silt is generally quite fine, so a good proportion of

The East Embankment of Kosi river


46

coarse to medium sand will be needed to design a suitable mix for brick making. Promoting this use will

save the valuable top soil as house construction is rapidly growing in the region due to urbanization.

5. The other smaller but important areas where silt can be effectively used include ceramic industry, insulation

refractory, wall tiles etc. Although the volume of silt that can be utilised in these sectors is not very high but

this has a good potential in generating new livelihoods and it should be explored further. Again, a few pilot

projects can be designed and supported by NGOs and/or government departments.

6. While several concerned departments seem to be keen about large scale use of silt, there are

administrative problems and lack of regulations to promote this.

a. A possible solution is to make the use of river silt compulsory for road construction within 100

km of radius of the major river and tributaries draining through north Bihar. This needs a major

policy intervention. A similar policy was made by the National Highway Authority of India

(NHAI) which made it mandatory to use 30 per cent of fly ash in expressway construction if the

project falls within a radius of 100 km from a coal or lignite-based thermal power plant. It is

highly desirable that a similar campaign is initiated for the use of silt as well and no other state

than Bihar is better suited for this.

Building Industry linkage: Conducive policy and promotional schemes can be planned for setting up

small scale industries on paving block, wall tiles etc

Support of ATMA and Agriculture Department: A package can be developed to reclaim the lands. The

package may include improved seeds and organic manures and other materials required for improving

the fertility of the soil. A programme can be designed and integrated with schemes ad programmes of

ATMA and Agriculture Department.

It can be recommended that new landfills may be intended to be developed for organic cultivation. It will

be better option to be used for organic farming as there will be no chances of pesticide residues in

newly filled fields. It will help in promoting organic farming in the state.

State Agri. Univ. / Research institutions can take up adoptive trials on the new landfills to find out

research-based recommendations with regards to suitability of crop specific package of practices, crop

sequences, etc.

In the area under study, lentil is a major pulse crop. The lentil is severely affected by parasitic weed

Cuscuta due to its seed stock in traditional fields. These new land fields will be suitable for lentic crop as

there will be minimal weed infestation at least for initial 3 to 5 years.

To promote horticulture and medicinal crops in the area, the landfilled areas can be utilized for perennial

horticultural / medicinal crop cultivation after a period of few years.

Integration with MGNREGA: Dredger would be engaged for dredging of silt. A dredger can dump

extracted silt upto 1 km distance as per the discussion with a dredger found in Supaul during field visit.

The silt can be dumped on Government land of 50 feet each on both sides of embankment. The silt has

to be transported to the villages. Villagers can then carry the silt and fill up their land. MGNREGA

schemes can be linked to this as filling up the area would be planned with a proper drainage system as

well.

In the household survey in Supaul and saharsa, it was found that atleast one member from 65% of the

households migrate in search of livelihoods. Based the analysis of chemical characteristics of Kosi silt,

the silt can also be used for making small ceramic based toys and decorative item. A pilot can be taken

up around this. As in the area, women are already organized in Self Held Groups with the support of

Jeevika under State Rural Livelihoods Mission, the production and marketing of these small ceramic

based products can be routed through these SHGs. This would contribute to twin benefits of enhanced

economic empowerment of women and over household income.


47

Annexure-1 Tool and Questionnaire

Survey Forms for Farmers

1. Basic Information

Name of Farmer and age:............... Village:...............................

Block/Taluka: ............ ....... District:...............................

2. Land Ownership Information

Land Type Total own Land in Acre

Total Leased Land in Acre

Total Irrigated Land in Acre

Type of Irrigation River, Canal, Well, Borewell, Water Harvesting tank

Area affected by flood in acre

Upland

Medium Land

Low Land

3. Land Utilization and Cropping Pattern

a. Upland

Total Land cultivated in Acre:

Name of Crop

Area grown in acre

Productivity in Quintal/acre

Survey No.

Name of Surveyor

Date and Time of Survey


48

b. Medium Land


Name of Crop

Area grown in acre


c. Low Land


Name of Crop

Area grown in acre


4. Usage of Soil Amendments

Do you use Manure: Yes/No If Yes, How much per acre:...................

Do you use Lime: Yes/No If Yes, How much per Acre:...................

Do you use Gypsum: Yes/No If yes, How much per Acre...................

Do you use Vermicompost: Yes/No If yes, How much per acre....................

5. Have you done soil testing? Yes/No

6. Usage of Fertilizer

Name of Crop

Fertilizer type Dosage Kg/acre


49

7. Usage of Silt in agricultural fields

Do you use silt in your agricultural fields: Yes/No

a. If yes,

What kind of silt is used?............................................................

Crops/fields for which silt is used: ..............................................

Quantity of silt used in Quintal/acre: .........................................

Time of silt Application:..............................................................

Method of Silt Application:........................................................

Cost involved per acre in Rs: ...............................................................

Productivity of crops after silt application

Name of Crop Productivity in Quintal/acre after silt application

Reduction in fertilizer consumption after silt application:

Name of Crop

Fertilizer type Dosage Kg/acre after silt application

b. If silt is not used, provide reasons for not using?

Income of the Household

Agriculture Income

Season Crops Grown Area Grown in Acre

Total Production in Quintal

Average Rate in Rs/Quintal

Income in Rs.

Khariff


50

Rabi

Summer

Forest Based Income

Items Income per annum in Rs

Firewood

Salleaves

Kendu Leaves

Total

Income from NTFP Activities

Activity Annual Income in Rs.

Sabai grass selling


51

Rope making and selling

Basket Making

Total

Income from Livestock Rearing

Type of Livestock Annual Income in Rs

Goat

Cow

Buffalo

Poultry

Duck

Pig

Total


52

Wage Income in local area

Wage Type

No. of person

days in a year

Average daily

income in Rs. Total in Rs.

Agriculture wage

Factory

MNREGA

Construction

Total

Migration Situation

Migration

period

No. of

persons

migrate

No. Of

person

days get

work

Average daily

income of the

family from

migration in Rs. Total in Rs.

Total


53

Income from Non-farm Activities

Activity Annual Income in Rs.

Total in Rs.

Guidelines for Focused Group Discussion with farmers

Step-1: Pl give your introduction and explain the purpose of your visit.

Step-2 ask one by one following questions and note down the responses

1. Pl tell us about the village. How many hamlets are there? How many households are there in each hamlet? How is the

caste composition? What is the % of SC, ST, OBC and general?

2. Pl tell us about the livelihood profiles of the households? What are the major livelihood activities prevalent in the

village? % of households engaged in various livelihood activities?

3. Pl tell us about the agriculture scenario of the village? Proportion of landless, marginal, small, medium and large

farmers in the village. Marginal> 1 ha, small>2 ha, medium 2 to 5 ha and above 5 ha as large farmers. What are the

kinds of crops grown in various season? What is the source of irrigation?

FGD No

Name of Village, Block and district

Name of facilitator

No. of participants

Time of discussion


54

4. What is the effect /impact of floods in your village? Which are the areas which get under the floods? How do you see

these floods changed over the years? Reasons for these changes.

5. What can be done to tackle or minimize the intensity of flood? Can extraction of silt be useful for managing floods? How

can it be extracted, stored and managed?

6. What can be done with the extractable silt? For what purpose can it be used?

7. If it can be used for agriculture purpose, have you ever used? What kind of silt should be used? For what kind of

crops/fields silt should be used? How should the silt be used? What is the method of application? How much silt should

be used for an acre of land? When should it be used/ applied in the fields?

8. How much cost will it incur to apply silt on the field?

9. What is the benefit of applying silt in fields? How much is the increase /decrease in yield of various crops? By how

much fertilizer consumption for various crops will be reduced? What will be the net monetary benefit of silt application

for agriculture purpose?

Guidelines for Interview with Brick Manufacturer

General Information

1. Category of brick : Name of the Manufacturer:

2. No. of Bricks manufactured(Installed Capacity ) ______________________

3. No. of Bricks manufactured(Last year production), why there is a difference in production, if at all __

Production and Raw Materials

4. What are the Raw materials used with their proportion_______________

5. Present source.

6. Are they are available sufficiently?

7. Present cost of the raw materials ___________________________________________

8. Distance of source.

9. No. Of Qualities ( 1st 2nd ) ____________________

10. Average cost of the transport /per tonne for various raw materials

______________________________________________

11. Problems in sourcing and transportation of the material________________

12. Is raw material is purchased directly or through brokers?

13. If through brokers what is the cost of brokerage.


55

14. Do you have to enter into an agreement for the supply of raw materials ? If yes what are the terms and

conditions?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

15. Are you satisfied with present raw material quality & supply ?

16. Is it sufficient to your demand?

17. Fesses and taxes involved.

18. Any Unofficial amounts you pay for raw material.

19. What is the procurement season?Peak months of raw material procurement?

20. Time required for 1 batch of production

21. Time gap between production and sales.

22. How many cycles of production in a season

Sales and Marketing

23. Where are you selling them, direct sales or through commission agents, who are your major clients?

24. Sales in ( % ) A. Nearby areas_______ B. Medium distance________ C. Longer distance _

25. Do you also sell on credit?

Financials

1. Investment level

2. Are the bank loans provided?

3. What is your turnover?

4. Cost of excavation of soil, cost of handling and transportation and manufacturing cost?

Govt. Permissions etc.,

1. What are all the Permissions, licences and Safety standards?

Possibility of Usage of silt of Kosi River for Brick Making

1. Can the Kosi silt be used brick making, replacing some proportion of its raw materials. If no, why? If yes,

why? If yes, how much silt can be consumed for brick making?


56

2. If silt has to be used for brick making, Pl suggest how can it be possible such as excavation, storage, handling,

transportation, processing if required? What will be the cost associated at each stage.

Information on other brick manufacturers

How many total brick manufactures are there in the district? Pl categorize them in three categories, small,

medium and Big. Define small, medium and Big. How many manufactures are there in each category. What is

the total production of these manufacturers of different categories? From where these manufactures source their

raw materials ?

Guidelines for Interview with Government Departments

Step-1: Introduce yourself and share about the scoping study to manage silt of kosi River and the purpose of the

visit

Step-2: Ask following questions one by one and document the response minutely.

1. Department of Industries

a. Pl provide the list of brick manufacturers: both general and flyash and tiles manufacturers with their

details such as name, location, installed capacity, type of brick kilns etc.

b. Pl provide the estimate of installed capacity of these brick manufactures and tiles manufactures.

How many bricks: general and flyash are produced last year?

c. What are the regulations enforced on these manufactures?

d. What and how much of various raw materials are required for production of various types of brick?

What is the scope of usage of silt of Kosi river in brick and tiles making? Is it currently practiced? If

yes, how? In what proportion it is used, for making one brick, how much silt can be used? If not

used, why is it so? Similar questions for tiles making.


57

e. What are the issues/precautions one has to be cautious with?

f. What are Department’s future plans for these brick and tiles making industry? Pl share your annual

and five year plan.

2. Department of Mines

i. What is the current practice of taking out silt and sand from Kosi river? Is the silt from Kosi river

dredged? If yes, when and at what frequency? What is the cost associated with dredging of silt?

Who does the dredging? How is dredging done?

ii. What is the current practice of sand mining from from Kosi river? Where is it mined and stored?

Who are the major players? What is the role of department? To whom is it sold currently? On What

basis, at what cost? What is the procedure to be followed? What are the rules and regulations to be

adhered with?

iii. Is it possible to dredge silt from river bed and use for various purposes like brick making, road

construction, agricultural field, filling up area after mining etc? If no, why is it so? If yes, how can it

be dredged? Who can be involved? Where can it be stored/ dumped? How can it be transported?

What will be the cost associated? What are the rules and regulations will be enforced?

iv. Is there any scope for using dredged silt for reclamation/flling after mining? If no, why? If yes, how

can it be done? Cost associated with? How many such mines are there where silt can be used?

How much silt can be used for covering mines?

v. What are Department’s future plans in above respect? Pl share your annual and five year plan.


58

vi. What are the issues/precautions one has to be cautious with?

3. Department of Road Construction

Department coverage and budget: km of road constructed of various categories at various

locations: district, block, village, pitch road, ACC road, other type of roads. Budget/expenditure

done on various types of roads in various locations.

Major projects with the name of the contractor/agency who will take up the work.

Following table can be filled.

Type of Road

Pitch, ACC,

others(Specify)

Location

District, block,

village(Specify)

Kms

constructed

Expenditure/Budget Specifications

of these roads

Process of

constructing

these roads

like different

layers with

different

raw

materials,

their volume

per KM

How the roads are constructed? Are contractors involved? Who can take up work/bid for

construction? Any registration is required? Any specific criteria for giving tenders to contractors for

constructions. How is the process of tendering?


59

From where the raw materials are purchased/sourced? What is the cost associated with these raw

materials?

Is there any scope for usage of kosi river silt for civil industry especially road construction and low

line area filling? If No, why is it so? If yes, why? If yes, pl specify for which type of road or for which

stage/layer, it can be used? What kind of silt and what at proportion can it be used?

The analysis of chemical characteristics of the silt shows that this silt can be used for making

pavement tiles (footpath). What are your views? What is the current level of usage of pavement

tiles in Government projects? How much? Who are the current major suppliers? What proportion of

silt can be used in these tiles?

Pl specify which are the low line areas that are water logged that can be filled. Can we estimate

how much area and how much silt can be consumed for filling these areas.

What are Department’s next year annual plan and next five year plan: Road construction of various

types, pavement tiles, low line area filling, and any other area in which silt can be used.

To make it doable, what kind of incentive/program/schemes, Government should have?

What are the issues/precautions one has to be cautious with.

Some of the questions can be taken up for interview with contractors.


60

Guidelines for Interview with ATMA

Pl collect agriculture statistics of the district and if available for entire Kosi division. The statistics

include total area, cropped area, gross cropped area, total no. of farmers, kinds of farmers, average

land holding, soil type, agro-climatic zone, types of crops grown, total production and productivity,

usage of fertilizer for various crops etc.

Soil map of the area, fertility level of soil of various area, level of implementation of soil health card,

any specific data on soil heath/soil fertility, any study done on soil and agriculture of the area

Impact of floods on agriculture, area of cropping, crops grown, production and productivity

Is it possible to use silt of Kosi river for agriculture usage? If no, why? If yea, Why and how? Which

kind of silt can be used? How much per acre should be used? In which season/time should be

used? What should be the method of application? What will be the cost involved? How can the

farmers be motivated to do so? What incentives/programs/schemes can be leveraged?

Which are the areas in which silt can be used? Approximately how much area/land in ha can be

applied with silt? How much silt can be consumed?

What are the issues/precautions one has to be cautious with?


61

Guidelines for Interview with NGO Personnel

Date of Interview

Name of Interviewer

Name of interviewee

Name of Organization

Designation and contact details

Step-1: Introduce yourself and explain about the scoping study and purpose of visit

Step-2: Ask one by one following questions and document the response on each question.

1. Pl brief about your organization? What is the mission, objectives and target group of your organization? What are the

major programs/activities done by the organization? What is the geographical reach and outreach of various programs?

2. What are your views on floods in Kosi river? How do you see floods in Kosi changed over the years? What are the

major reasons/factors that contribute to floods in Kosi river? What can be done to manage the floods?

3. Government of Bihar is planning to extract the silt and use silt for various purposes? What are the purposes for which

silt can be used? Can it be used in agricultural fields for improving soil fertility? If yes, how to motivate farmers to use

it? What are the Government schemes and programs that can be leveraged for usage of silt?

4. What role can you play in managing silt of Kosi river?


62

Annexure-2 Minutes of Stakeholder Workshop

Workshop on Managing Slit of Kosi River, Bihar

The Initiatives and Challenges

March 31 2017

Hotel Chanakya, Patna

Organized by


63

A consultation workshop on “Managing Slit of Kosi River, Bihar - The Initiatives and Challenges” was held at

Hotel Chanakya, Patna on March 31st 2017. Though a day long workshop was planned, the workshop could be

wrapped up before lunch time. It was primarily organized as one of the milestone in the long-planned activity

related to policy recommendations on silt management. It drew participants from different range of stakeholders

involved in silt management. Representatives from academic & research institutions, development actors and

government departments attended the workshop. List of participants is attached as annexure-1.

The objectives of the workshop were

to understand the problem of occurrence of frequent floods at Kosi River, Bihar and the current initiatives

taken up by various agencies to address the same.

to provide an opportunity to introduce BASIX Consulting and Technology Services Ltd.(BCTS), Hyderabad,

an agency hired to undertake a scoping study to manage silt of Kosi river, Bihar.

Workshop invitation letter along with agenda note shared with all participants is attached as annexure-2. The

workshop was structured into three main blocks. The first block comprised of inaugural addresses and context

setting from experts & mentor of the workshop. Experts / Focal person /Government representatives of the

department & institutions expressed its full support to the Basix Consulting and Technology Services Ltd.

The second block comprised of technical presentation capturing the various initiatives taken up by various

agencies to manage silt of Kosi River. Representatives from, IIT, Kanpur, IIT, Patna, Indian Council of

Agricultural Research (ICAR), Patna, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata,

Technology Information, forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), Delhi made technical presentation on

related issues.

The third block comprised of open discussions where participants of the workshop discussed about processes

related to scope of the study and exploration for all set of possible support of knowledge & information from

different stakeholders.

Emerging from the workshop, stakeholders’ awareness on the Slit Management was imminently noted. It was

further revealed on the data vacuum that impedes effective planning, implementation and policy formulation &

review. The key challenge for BCTS would be compile all existing knowledge, information and pilots models on

Slit Management accomplished by various agencies. It was also reflected that inviting of all associated

stakeholders at common platform is challenging. This workshop has provided a collaborative environment for

Basix study team to work with various stakeholders to kick-start its assignment of undertaking a scoping study to

manage silt of Kosi River, Bihar.

Welcome Remark and Context Setting

Mr. Pankaj Kumar, ACT, Team Leader, DFID-CCIP, Bihar welcomed the guests and participants to the

workshop. In his addressing remarks, Mr. Pankaj reiterated the objectives of the workshop and its endeavor in

scoping study on slit management. He briefly explained about ACT’s intervention on mainstreaming of climate

change issues in policy & state climate change plan in various sectors such as water resource, agriculture etc.

The workshop opening was graced by Director, Ecology & Environment, Department of Environment &

Forest, GoB. He told that there were plenty of knowledge available on the issues, which needed to be collated at

one place for taking forward the agenda of Slit Management in tune with climate change adaptation and Natural


64

Resource Management. He expressed that participants are representing from wide spectrum of people to

discuss about what to choose for Bihar and what action should be taken for adaptation. He told that River

Science is associated with a gamut of issues in the field of environment and Natural Resource Management. He

expressed that some concrete action needs to be planned on slit management in gainful manner keeping in

alignment of climate change adaptation and Natural Resource Management. He emphasized the need of

examining the technical and commercial aspects of managing silt i.e. how to utilize, where to use and what to

produce with its detail economic viability. He also committed to ensure full support of Environment and Forest

Department to BCTS in due course of the conduct of scoping study.

Remarks from Mr. Vijay Prakash (Retd I.A.S.), Ex APC, GoB

Mr. Vijay Prakash gave his opening speech for context setting. In his speech, Mr. Vijay Prakash highlighted the

following issues…

The Kosi River is one of the most ancient rivers of India. Kosi River is known as Sorrow River in Bihar. In traditional

days, flood used to come and was welcomed as blessing (Flood brings prospects) for the people but in recent day flood

has been severally affecting the people of the areas. Floods have been responsible for acute human suffering. The

flood caused loss of human lives.

The Kosi River possess a very high sediment load. The Kosi River’s annual sediment load is currently estimated at 95

million cubic meters. Embankment on Kosi River has been one of the key contributing factor which disturbed the

natural process of managing the sediments. Elevation of Kosi’s gradient by 1 cm per year is forced by tectonic forces

which is aggravating erosion, inundation and sedimentation. Many attempts have been tried to prevent future breach

and flooding but still there a threat of severe calamities. Because of raised river bed, and reduced water holding

capacity, the adjoin areas experience severe calamities. Water logging in the adjoin areas is another serious concern.

He expressed that dredging of silt can be done but with a solution for its utilization as the annual sediment load of the

river is very high. He emphasized that slit cannot be disposed – “we have to use it”. Silt was traditionally used as a glue

material for drilling purposed and for agricultural purpose. Now there is a need to assess the commercial use of slit.

Slit management is not a priority agenda for Mines and Industrial department as Mines Department focus on revenue

generation and Industry department has another priority. There is a need to understand the economy of the slit

management – how to manage, which kind of material can be produced – there are models on ceramic material,

construction material, brick manufacturing, etc

Scope of slit management can be explored in civil construction, ceramic material production and road construction. But

it requires technical and feasibility assessment of slit management. Slit can also be used for agriculture purpose. But it

all needs to be examined.

Polytechnic in Patna could be explored for examining the commercial viability of slit in scale.

He expressed that innovation was done in the past by various agencies such as TIFAC, CGCRI, ICAR Patna, CRRI,

Delhi. All various kinds of innovation could be brought at one platform for wider scaling of the product / processes. He

emphasized that we must know what was done earlier. We must also know the economy of the scale. How are we

going to manage? How much can we manage? Where to use? There is a need to map a roadmap from sand to slit.

Slit should be considered as a resource for the state rather than a waste. There should be a Slit Management Policy in

the state. Proper road map on slit management needs to be planned. One should look for entrepreneur. One should

also understand the backward and forward linkages.

Prof Rajiv Sinha, IIT, Kanpur

Prof Rajiv Sinha introduced the unique and dynamic nature of Kosi River to the participants. It helped the

participants to understand the background and need of silt management. Kosi is characterized with large

catchment area, almost five times than the Ganges and a much smaller alluvial area. This feature contributes to

the dynamic nature of the river. He emphasized that problem of the Kosi River is multifaceted. Because of

construction of embankments, the natural process of carrying sediments has been disturbed. Also the river is


65

forced to flow in a smaller area. This has led to deposition of silt and multilayer staking of silt. This has also

contributed to raise river bed causing floods and water lodging in adjoin areas. He emphasized that wrong

engineering practices has aggregated the problems of water lodging.

He shared his three years of work in estimating silt in various stretches of the river. He also shared that first order

estimates of volume of silt are available with him. He highlighted some of the hot spots in the Kosi region which

should be immediately targeted for silt management. He emphasized that the extraction has to be done keeping

the equilibrium of the river in consideration. First order estimates of the volume off silt that can be extracted from

various hot spots is an output of his work on Kosi river.

He told that all would have to understand the possible set of roles of various stakeholders. It gets stuck as there

is no perspective about slit management in the state and country. Slit is considered as national waste but there is

a need to advocate that slit should be considered as resource of the country. Work has been done but there is

reluctance to share knowledge and information. He emphasized that the larger agenda is to formulate policy and

plan on slit management & other related issues.

He emphasized and expressed that there are plenty of knowledge exists in different government departments &

academia sector on silt management. It need to be shared for developing sustainable strategy for silt

management for Kosi and others river of Bihar. Technical information need to be disseminated in simpler forms

for policy manager in the state of Bihar. He informed about possible collaboration with Arya Bhatt University for

taking the agenda of silt management on large scale.

What can scoping study do and expectations?

Ms. Rashmi, BASIX Consulting and Technology Services Ltd., explained in detail about the scope of the study

and also admitted that this is new but interesting area for BCTS.

The objective of the assignment is to develop a plan for the commercial utilization of the silt that would be

dredged detailing various products and usage that can be suggested using the silt based on the available

characteristics of the silt.

Ms. Rashmi also requested the participants for sharing of information & knowledge during course of scoping

study in the region.

Dr. Ghosh representative from CGCRI explained in brief about the chemical characteristics of slit as analyzed by

CGCRI. CGCRI was given a project by TIFAC and Government of Bihar to study the characteristics of silt of Kosi

river. the CGCRI had collected and analyzed the characteristics of silt samples taken from six districts. He

expressed that though the scope of the project was confined to study of the characteristics of silt, scientist Dr.

Tapas Mukherjee experimented some of the ceramic products with the silt such as holders, tiles, wash basins

etc. He highlighted about possible use of slit in building material, road construction and low line filling areas. A

draft report was submitted to BAMETI and final Report is awaited.

Mr. Deepak representative from Technology Information and Forecasting Assessment Council (TIFAC)

highlighted the commercialisation of slit management on the basis of pilots. Central Road & Research Institute

should do assessment for how to use ceramic material. He shared that TIFAC was given a project by

Government of Bihar with BAMETI as the nodal agency to undertake pilots for commercial use of silt. TIFAC had

collected and analyzed sample of silt from first 60 kms stretch of the river from Nepal border. TIFAC had

engaged three agencies to undertake pilots in three areas: CGCRI, Kolkata for ceramic products, Central Road

Research Institute (CRRI), Delhi for brick manufacturing and road construction purposes and ICAR, Patna for


66

agricultural purposes. CGCRI had completed the project with awaited final report to be submitted to BAMETI. Mr.

Deepak expressed that there was not much progress made by CRRI and ICAR, Patna.

Prof R.P.Sinha spoke about how slit management is in the interest of state of Bihar. He expressed the need of

silt management as huge amount of slit is available in the state. Ceramic Engineering Department has developed

a detailed project report and submitted to Government of Bihar on producing ceramic products such as tiles,

sanitary wares and bricks with silt.

Prof Amarnath Hedge, IIT Patna made a presentation on the civil application of silt. He emphasized that silt

cannot be used alone as a construction material due to its low weight, low shear strength and high water

retention capacity. He referred some of the work done around civil application of silt in other countries. He

emphasized the scope of usage of silt along with Geosynthetics products such as geotextiles, geogrids, geonets,

Geomembranes, geocells. He explained the participants on the scope of usage of silt along with geocells

correlating with his experiments with clay and geocells for road construction. He also expressed to undertake

research and laboratory testing using silt of Kosi River.

Representatives of Water Resource Management Department explained about usage of river bed material from

engineering point of view. He also emphasized that river structure needs to be understood for slit management.

Prof Rao, ICAR, Patna shared his experiences of soil profiling for increasing the productivity of Wheat in one

village in Kosi area. He also highlighted about organic carbon loss and clay size fraction of the silt.

Mr. Anand, Inter Agency Group on Sediment Management in Bihar, ICIMOD, Yuganter put together briefs of

organization working on Kosi River basin. He emphasized the importance of creating a knowledge platform for

sharing information.

Outcomes and suggestions at a glance

Participating stakeholders exchanged their views and challenges related to Slit Management, climate change

adaptation and Flood Management

Technical agencies shared their pilots and initiatives on silt management issues

Multi-stakeholders should come forward for collective action on silt management. One campaign as champion players

should emerge for taking it forward in the larger interest of people of Bihar.

There is a need to plan concrete action for silt management in gainful manner. It should be in the line of climate change

adaptation, field of environment and natural resource management. Technical and commercial viability of silt

management need to be worked out clearly.

Local knowledge should be captured during scoping study.

Inter departmental coordination is very much needed for taking forward the agenda of silt management of Kosi in the

state of Bihar.

Workshop promoted a collaborative environment for Basix Consulting and Technology Services Ltd to work with

various stakeholders to accomplish the study.

Bihar Vidyapeeth’s imitative for promotion on innovation can be channelized for undertaking research on various

products with silt.

Silt management could be planned at micro and macro level i.e. local level management in small scale as well as plan

for large scale silt management


67

Deliberations and way-forward…

On the basis of the workshops, the following key components were deliberated upon…

Mapping of different range of stakeholders working on Slit Management or related issues

Enough knowledge exists in different pockets in the government / academia sector, that need to be compiled and

shared for silt management of Kosi & other Rivers

Coordination with different departments, research institutes, academic institutions for collection of related data / study

report.

Closing Remarks

The closing of the workshop was officiated by Ms. Rashmi. In her closing remarks, she told that knowledge and

information sharing is the need of the hour for moving ahead. She further reiterated the Institutions’ and

Government Departments’ support to Basix Consulting and Technology Services Ltd in the endeavor to conduct

scoping study. Dr Rajiv emphasized on the intensity of problem and requested all the stakeholders to share

knowledge and information. Collection of Data and sharing of report among each other is an important milestone

in this direction.

Annexure-1 List of Participants

S.No. Name of

Participants

Organisation E-mail id Contact No.

1 Sri Vijay Prakash Ex-APC, GoB

2 Sri Bharat Jyoti Director, Ecology &

Environment, GoB

[email protected]

m

9471004371

3 Dr. Prabhakar

Sharma

Assistant Professor, Nalanda

University

[email protected] 7033698509

4 Niladri Gupta Asian Disaster Preparedness

Centre, Patna


5 Ajit Kr. Samaiyar Sr. Advisor, BSDMA [email protected] 9431453768

6 Dr. Murlidhar

Singh

Proff. (Env & Drainage),

WALMI, Patna


7 Proff. Rajiv Sinha IIT, Kanpur [email protected] 9935558218

8 Biswajit

Chakrawarti

Scientist G. NIH, Patna [email protected] 9471000083

9 Anand Bijeta ICIMOD, State Prog.

Manager


10 Dr. Amarnath

Hegde,

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil

Engineering, IIT Patna


mailto:[email protected]







68

11 Dr. Somnath

Sarangi,

Associate Professor

Department of Civil

Engineering, IIT Patna


12 Surya Bhusan Assistant Professor, DMI [email protected] 9717213139

13 Dr. O P Sharma Joint Director, NIPHM, BCTS

team


14 K. Venkat Rao BCTS team [email protected] 9849202752

15 Dr. Ram Pyare BCTS team, Department of

Ceramic Engg. Department,

IIT- BHU


16 Kumar Abhishek OPML, Patna Kumar.abhishek@aactiononcli

mate.today

9868661716

17 Vijay Kumar 9204124383

18 Dr. S. Ghosh CGCRI, Kolkata [email protected] 8902498675

19 Ashok Ku Sinha BCTS Team [email protected] 9868200040

20 Pankaj Kuamar OPML, ACT Team, Patna Pankaj.kumar@actiononclimat

e.today

9576430298

21 Kumar Pratyang OPML, Patna Kumar.

[email protected]

ay

9905838974

22 Sustanta Dey 9339056900

23 Deepak Kumar TIFAC [email protected] 9910418778

24 Arvind Sharma Joint Director, Soil

Conservation Dept.

9431818763

25 K. Kotewara Rao 7258062257

26 Rupesh Sinha Reporter [email protected]

m

7277582816

27 Lalit Kumar 9334875475

28 A Kumar Reporter 7762849260

29 M.A. Shabau [email protected] 7352048844

30 Nagmani Reporter, All India Radio [email protected] 886376625

31 R. P. Sinha [email protected] 9473451077

32 M.Q. Jauhar Reporter [email protected] 7634927755

33 Sanjay Kr. Pal [email protected] 7273965272

34 Rahul Ranjan [email protected] 9534313485

35 Om Prakash Reporter [email protected] 7250531135

36 Rashmi Adlekha BCTS [email protected]

om

9989928139




69

Annexure 3 Sample ID of silt samples

SL. No. sample id. depth(cm) location

Chemical Analysis Done

EAST EMBANKMENT

1 S1 0-15 SPAUR-335 yes

S1 15-30

2 S2 0-15 SPAUR-870 Yes

S2 15-30

3 S3 0-15 SPAUR-1630 yes

S3 15-30

4 S4 0-15 SPAUR-2132 Yes

S4 15-30

5 S15 0-15 SPAUR-2570 Yes

S15 15-30

Mid of the River

6 S5 0-15 5KM at the barrage Yes

S5 15-30


S6 15-30


S7 15-30


S8 15-30

S8 30-45

S8 45-60


S9 15-30

S9 30-45

S9 45-60


S10 15-30

west embankment Nepal


S11 15-30

S11 30-45

S11 45-60 Yes


S12 15-30

S12 30-45

S12 45-60 Yes



70

SL. No. sample id. depth(cm) location

Chemical Analysis Done

S13 15-30

S13 30-45

S13 45-60 Yes

15 S14 0-15 5 KM at the barrage

S14 15-30

S14 30-45

S14 45-60 Yes

16 S16 0-15 Nirmala block (India) Yes

S16 15-30 35 KM at the barrage

S16 30-45

S16 45-60 Yes

Annexure 4 Chemical Properties

Sample ID

S-1 (0-15)

S-2 (0-15)

S-3 (0-15)

S-4 (0-15)

S-5 (0-30)

S-6 (0-10)

S-7 (0-15)

S-8 (0-15)

S-9 (0-15)

S-9 (45-60)

S-10 (0-15)

S-11 (0-15)

S-11 (WCN) (45-60)

S-11 (1ft

(45-60)

S-12 (0-15)

S-12 (45-60)

S-13 (0-15)

S-13 (45-60)

S-14 (0-15)

S-15 (0-15)

S-16 (0-15)

SiO2

mass%

76.63

80.15

76.94

66.36

72.98

79.63

76.23

73.15

71.72

74.63

71.69

76.09 77.74 77.36

72.05 77.80

73.01 76.86

72.58

75.566

79.388

TiO2

mass% 0.43 0.32 0.41 0.71 0.52 0.35 0.42 0.53 0.54 0.45 0.57 0.44 0.38 0.40 0.54 0.39 0.46 0.44

0.559

0.449

0.284

Al2O3

mass%

10.99 9.58

10.62

14.60

11.89

10.33

10.70

13.03

12.34

11.58

12.09

10.48 10.28 10.50

12.04 10.30

10.58 10.48

12.21

11.077

9.313

Fe2O3

mass% 3.25 2.78 3.32 5.42 4.00 3.09 3.29 4.20 4.04 3.22 4.08 3.07 2.77 3.02 4.02 3.19 3.25 3.19

4.047

3.686

2.576

MgO

mass% 1.32 0.95 1.24 2.49 1.74 1.07 1.24 1.88 1.84 1.42 1.92 1.34 1.06 1.17 1.76 1.20 1.39 1.29

1.745

1.383

0.853

CaO

mass% 1.71 1.62 1.66 1.85 2.06 1.60 1.75 1.95 1.95 1.69 2.29 1.67 1.46 1.50 1.88 1.63 1.76 1.70 1.88

1.774

1.425

K2O

mass% 2.70 2.12 2.51 3.71 2.95 2.30 2.57 3.08 3.11 3.04 2.94 2.66 2.60 2.68 2.98 2.46 2.63 2.61

2.946

2.615

2.154

Na2O

mass% 2.04 1.71 1.74 1.60 1.76 1.83 1.78 1.75 1.77 1.81 1.86 1.71 1.64 1.72 1.67 1.80 1.68 1.64

1.635 1.79

1.756

P2O5

mass% 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.16 0.15 0.09 0.11 0.13 0.13 0.10 0.19 0.11 0.07 0.09 0.14 0.10 0.12 0.10 0.15 0.12 0.07

NiO mass 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.02 0.02

0.033

0.014

0.028


72

Sample ID

S-1 (0-15)

S-2 (0-15)

S-3 (0-15)

S-4 (0-15)

S-5 (0-30)

S-6 (0-10)

S-7 (0-15)

S-8 (0-15)

S-9 (0-15)

S-9 (45-60)

S-10 (0-15)

S-11 (0-15)

S-11 (WCN) (45-60)

S-11 (1ft

(45-60)

S-12 (0-15)

S-12 (45-60)

S-13 (0-15)

S-13 (45-60)

S-14 (0-15)

S-15 (0-15)

S-16 (0-15)

%

MnO

mass% 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.04 0.06 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.05

0.061 0.07

0.059

Total

99.21

99.40

98.62

96.97

98.14

100.36

98.16

99.79

97.50

97.99

97.70

97.63 98.05 98.50

97.19 98.93

94.95 98.36

97.85

98.54

97.91

Sr ppm 140 136 128 95 129 128 132 187 123 132 133 127 129 125 114 125 131 128 108 122 135

Y ppm 35 27 33 41 45 30 39 46 35 28 52 39 30 33 40 29 42 34 49 36 27

Zr ppm 263 209 247 312 338 225 293 332 269 216 386 296 228 253 302 221 312 261 372 276 201

LOI 5.14 2.2

Neglisible 1.4

Neglisible 2.05 1.63 1.93 1.96 1.99

Neglisible 2.87

Neglisible

4.316

Neglisible 2.76

Neglisible 2.06


73

Bulk Mineralogy

Sample Quartz Plag Feldspar+Microline Mica/Illite Others (K+Ch+Amp) Total

% % % %

S-1 (0-15) 50.15 25.66 24.20 0.00 100.00

S-2 (0-15) 68.12 6.66 25.22 0.00 100.00

S-3 (0-15) 55.25 21.36 23.39 0.00 100.00

S-4 (0-15) 53.42 4.52 29.08 12.98 100.00

S-5 (0-30) 64.72 9.17 21.13 4.99 100.00

S-6 (0-10) 52.48 29.36 15.25 2.92 100.00

S-7 (0-15) 67.14 20.77 9.35 2.73 100.00

S-8 (0-15) 61.19 14.85 22.54 1.42 100.00

S-9 (0-15) 63.60 7.26 26.23 2.91 100.00

S-9 (45-60) 60.41 3.63 32.47 3.49 100.00

S-10 (0-15) 77.34 9.44 8.89 4.33 100.00

S-11 (0-15) 81.44 5.87 9.06 3.63 100.00

S-11 (WCN) (45-60) 67.08 15.03 17.89 0.00 100.00

S-11 (1ft (45-60) 45.31 3.05 51.64 0.00 100.00

S-12 (0-15) 80.02 5.41 14.58 0.00 100.00

S-12 (45-60) 74.45 5.74 14.73 5.08 100.00

S-13 (0-15) 59.20 10.21 30.58 0.00 100.00

S-13 (45-60) 59.20 10.21 30.58 0.00 100.00

S-14 (0-15) 57.60 7.55 29.25 5.60 100.00

S-15 (0-15) 68.73 9.66 14.52 7.09 100.00

S-16 (0-15) 53.88 22.24 23.88 0.00 100.00


74

Annexure-5 Properties of Silt from Agriculture Point of View

Sl.

No.

Card

No Spot No Sample Id

Sample lab

No pH EC (ds/m)

% OC

P205 (Kg/ha)

K2O (Kg/ha)

Sulphur (ppm)

Zn (ppm)

Cu (ppm)

Fe (ppm)

Mn (ppm)

B (ppm)

East Embankment

1 443 S1 15-30cm SPUR 335 827

7.86 0.26

0.11 41.13 66.00 0.27 1.01 0.85 4.38 1.53 Tr

2 444 S2 0-15cm SPUR 870 828

7.99 0.16

0.11 45.70 32.00 1.56 0.82 0.53 3.12 1.08 0.47

3 446 S2 15-30cm SPUR 870 829

7.52 0.12

0.11 31.99 110.00 3.66 0.91 1.70 7.80 1.93 0.03

4 447 S3 0-15cm SPUR 1630 830

7.59 0.11

0.08 54.84 62.00 2.38 0.84 0.75 4.26 1.31 0.31

5 448 S3 15-30cm SPUR 1630 831

7.40 0.30

0.36 59.41 220.00 34.26 1.11 1.38 14.22 1.96 0.63

6 449 S4 0-15cm SPUR 2133 832

7.69 0.14

0.52 73.12 155.00 3.85 11.90 2.47 0.31 2.47 0.31

7 450 S4 15-30cm SPUR 2133 833

7.67 0.19

0.33 31.99 129.00 2.84 0.64 2.80 14.00 2.94 0.63

Average

7.67 0.18

0.23 48.31 110.57 6.97 2.46 1.50 6.87 1.89 0.40

Mid of the River

8 451 S5 834

7.54 0.43

0.19 50.27 77.00 22.08 0.58 0.96 4.17 1.55 0.63

9 452 S5 835

7.52 0.48

0.22 59.41 126.00 29.50 0.15 1.17 6.11 1.77 0.78

10 453 S6 836

7.82 0.18

0.11 54.84 43.00 4.12 0.48 0.43 3.01 1.11 0.63

11 454 S6 837

7.80 0.17

0.11 41.13 38.00 4.85 0.22 0.54 2.88 1.16 0.94

12 455 S7 838

7.89 0.42

0.17 31.99 46.00 6.60 0.34 0.50 3.55 1.19 0.94

13 456 S7 839 7.9 0.28 0.2 31.99 42.00 2.56 0.11 0.46 2.87 1.28 1.25


75

Sl.

No.

Card


Sample lab

No pH EC (ds/m)

% OC

P205 (Kg/ha)

K2O (Kg/ha)

Sulphur (ppm)

Zn (ppm)

Cu (ppm)

Fe (ppm)

Mn (ppm)

B (ppm)

5 5

14 457 S8 840

7.98 0.23

0.11 50.27 48.00 2.11 0.15 0.51 3.14 1.34 0.63

15 458 S8 841

7.94 0.24

0.17 53.98 51.00 5.59 0.21 0.58 3.85 1.38 0.63

16 459 S9 842

7.93 0.24

0.19 54.84 75.00 6.23 0.29 0.68 4.43 1.32 0.78

17 460 S9 843

7.99 0.19

0.08 59.41 50.00 4.95 0.22 0.61 3.98 1.35 0.63

18 461 S9 844

7.99 0.79

0.11 54.84 56.00 5.77 0.12 0.55 4.35 1.46 1.25

19 462 S10 845

8.50 0.21

0.06 36.56 38.00 2.56 0.24 0.49 3.52 1.11 1.56

7.90 0.32

0.15 48.29 57.50 8.08 0.26 0.62 3.82 1.34 0.89

West Embankment Nepal

20 463 S11 846

8.07 0.16

0.11 31.99 78.00 3.11 0.19 0.70 4.59 1.92 0.94

21 464 S11 847

8.25 0.22

0.08 27.42 32.00 Tr 0.28 0.52 3.91 1.36 1.25

22 465 S11 848

8.32 0.15

0.06 50.27 44.00 Tr 0.28 0.56 4.01 1.37 1.09

23 466 S11 849

8.29 0.11

0.08 100.54 38.00 1.28 0.17 0.48 3.39 1.38 1.09

24 467 S12 850

8.08 0.25

0.33 59.41 126.00 10.27 0.21 1.83 12.05 2.68 1.25

25 468 S12 851

8.19 0.13

0.17 45.70 42.00 0.55 0.29 0.63 4.15 1.40 1.25

26 469 S12 852

8.22 0.19

0.22 59.41 66.00 Tr 0.34 1.04 5.96 2.12 1.56

27 470 S13 853

8.32 0.10

0.14 31.99 50.00 Tr 0.23 0.66 4.48 1.16 1.25


76

Sl.

No.

Card


Sample lab

No pH EC (ds/m)

% OC

P205 (Kg/ha)

K2O (Kg/ha)

Sulphur (ppm)

Zn (ppm)

Cu (ppm)

Fe (ppm)

Mn (ppm)

B (ppm)

28 471 S13 854

8.20 0.15

0.11 31.99 58.00 0.37 0.26 0.66 4.14 1.40 1.25

29 472 S14 855

7.86 0.34

0.28 36.56 99.00 12.09 0.52 1.54 8.30 2.51 0.31

30 473 S14 856

7.74 0.32

0.14 36.56 125.00 18.96 0.32 1.51 6.71 1.90 1.25

31 474 S14 857

7.89 0.15

0.11 63.98 54.00 2.84 0.24 0.72 4.09 1.57 1.56

32 475 S14 858

7.84 0.28

0.11 36.56 81.00 9.16 0.11 0.98 5.40 1.64 1.56

33 476 S15 SPUR-2570 859

7.96 0.17

0.11 54.84 60.00 2.84 0.25 0.76 4.16 1.32 Tr

34 477 S15 SPUR-2570 860

7.88 0.18

0.17 77.69 66.00 3.30 0.24 0.41 3.06 1.22 Tr

35 478 S16 861

7.97 0.13

0.11 45.70 27.00 0.27 0.24 0.97 5.79 1.46 Tr

36 479 S16 862

8.00 0.14

0.11 58.55 26.00 Tr 0.25 0.48 3.20 1.17 Tr

37 480 S17 863

7.98 0.12

0.17 54.84 86.00 Tr 0.24 0.98 8.29 1.49 Tr

38 481 S17 864

7.99 0.13

0.17 45.70 74.00 Tr 0.21 0.97 6.60 1.30 Tr

39 482 S17 865

7.92 0.19

0.22 41.13 99.00 Tr 0.48 1.81 10.17 2.21 Tr

40 483 S17 866

5.72 0.11

0.08 58.56 52.00 Tr 0.28 0.52 3.52 1.07 Tr

7.94 0.18

0.15 49.97 65.86 5.42 0.27 0.89 5.52 1.60 1.20

41 Average

7.88 0.22

0.16 49.14 71.79 6.84 0.68 0.92 5.25 1.57 0.91

42

Sl.

No.

Card


Sample lab

No pH EC (ds/m)

% OC

P205 (Kg/ha)

K2O (Kg/ha)

Sulphur (ppm)

Zn (ppm)

Cu (ppm)

Fe (ppm)

Mn (ppm)

B (ppm)


77

Sl.

No.

Card


Sample lab

No pH EC (ds/m)

% OC

P205 (Kg/ha)

K2O (Kg/ha)

Sulphur (ppm)

Zn (ppm)

Cu (ppm)

Fe (ppm)

Mn (ppm)

B (ppm)

44 1 East Embankment (7)

7.49 0.17

0.16 48.90 72.53 6.13 0.38 1.02 6.21 1.55 1.05

45 2 Mid of the River (12)

7.68 0.16

0.15 53.02 64.02 4.39 0.33 0.90 5.76 1.46 1.05

3

West Embankment

Nepal (21)

7.81 0.18

0.15 49.21 68.27 6.05 0.31 0.93 5.61 1.56 1.18

Mean of all samples

(40)

7.88 0.22

0.16 49.14 71.79 6.84 0.68 0.92 5.25 1.57 0.91

sediment management in river kosi a commercial...

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