By Deepak Kumar | Chairperson People First
This, from the Hindustan newspaper, Sept 17th Gandak river breaches banks, 2.5 lakh homeless Late Wednesday night, the waters of the heavily swollen Gandak River— flowing from Nepal— began seeping into six villages of Bihar’s Gopalganj district. The waters were ankle-deep. By Thursday morning, the water level in these villages had risen waist-high, triggering panic among residents and villagers State water resources department officials had warned that 14 lakh people in the three north Bihar districts of Gopalganj, Saran and Siwan would be affected if the river breached its embankment in Gopalganj. Since Wednesday, 2, 50,000 people have been evacuated from flood-hit and vulnerable areas. They have started reaching relief centers set up by the disaster management department in More than 520 people had died in the Kosi floods in north Bihar in August 2008 when the river had breached its embankments near Kusaha in Nepal You can feel that flood prevention measures and government response are inadequate, but it is the poor who cannot leave their land who are suffering yet again. As always it is the women and children who often beat the brunt of such suffering. It can be said although many have died perhaps the death toll is lower because of improved preventative work but the situation is still incredibly bad on the ground.
With our partners in the flood area we are distributing milk, animal feed blankets and medicines. We are doing what we can.
UNICEF is rushing supplies to the area but we do not yet know how effectively they will be distributed on the ground. And in the South of the same state drought has been declared.
May God have mercy on Bihar.
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