State, Floods and Politics of Knowledge: A Case of the Mahananda Basin of Bihar

Date01 June 2021
Published date01 June 2021
AuthorPankaj Kumar Jha
DOI10.1177/2321023021999177
Subject MatterSpecial Section Articles
Special Section Article
State, Floods and Politics of
Knowledge: A Case of the
Mahananda Basin of Bihar
Pankaj Kumar Jha1
Abstract
This article identifies two main perspectives on flood control: the traditional and the modern hydro-
logical. The objective here is to look at the contest between them from the point of view of the poli-
tics of knowledge. The traditional perspective views floods as a part of life and focuses on people’s
wisdom or local knowledge of flood control. The hydrological approach, on the other hand, is mostly
concerned with taming a river and views floods as a disaster that ought to be controlled and possibly
eliminated. This perspective dominates the policy of the post-colonial state in India. There are five
vantage points, such as historical context, state policy, political economy, collective action and epis-
temology, to understand the politics of knowledge around floods. In the first section, through history
we discuss the transition from the colonial to post-colonial India on the issues of floods, dams and
embankments. The second section of this article describes the flood policy and politics around it, from
Patna Flood Conference (1937) to Disaster Management Act, 2005. In Political Economy section the
article explores the link between land-holdings, tenancy and floods and also observes how agriculture
has changed due to floods. The fourth section, Forms of Collective Action, explores the politics of
collective action. Epistemology section presents the debate of lokvidyavs versus rajyavidya or living with
floods versus hydrological knowledge.
Keywords
Floods, flood management, politics of knowledge, hydrology, Disaster Management Act
This article offers a fresh perspective on a vigorously debated issue of development in India—the solu-
tions offered to deal with oods. This article aims to create communication among the different writings
on the issue (Latour, 1987; Mishra, 2001; Mukherjee, 2010; Nandy, 1989, 2012). It identies two main
knowledge systems on ood control, the modern hydrological and the traditional, attempting to under-
stand the contestation between them from the analytical framework of the politics of knowledge. The
Studies in Indian Politics
9(1) 91–104, 2021
© 2021 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/2321023021999177
journals.sagepub.com/home/inp
Note: This is a preliminary and exploratory exposition of ideas in this field prepared for a full-length monograph. Hence, many
ideas are still in almost outline form and should be taken as such. The author thanks the anonymous reviewers for their com-
ments on an earlier version of the piece.
1 Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Pankaj Kumar Jha, Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi, Delhi 110021, India.
E-mail: pankaj.j.du@gmail.com

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