Netherlands Engineer Team Assisting Bihar (NETAB): the Dutch contribution
The entire Netherlands Engineer Team Assisting Bihar (NETAB), supplemented by civilian advisers, was ready for departure at Schiphol Airport on 23 May 1968. The NETAB consisted of a detachment staff, a hydrological and survey team and 2 drilling teams.
Leadership structure
The Bihar project was the responsibility of the Ministry for Aid to Developing Countries, which came under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Major Metz was in charge of the military personnel and the overall project was headed by ir. Westenberg of the Directorate for International Technical Assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Exploratory drilling
One of the drilling teams went to the United States first for a 3-month drilling training course. The rest of the NETAB went straight to India. The detachment moved into a sugar factory in the small town of Guraru. The unit spent the first few months of deployment looking for water-retaining ground.
Wells
The Dutch engineers performed 37 exploration bores and 15 sites turned out to be suitable for wells from 100 to 200 metres deep. Once built, these 15 wells provided water for 350.000 people. Detachment commander, Major Metz, therefore later declared the project a success. Indian civilians and technicians also managed to keep it going themselves once the Dutch had gone.
Qualified success
The only comment on this self-proclaimed success was that the project was of course originally intended for irrigation. While it is true that the successful wells provided the people of Bihar with the much-needed clean drinking water, the objective of a structural improvement in agricultural irrigation had not been achieved.