The agony of flood has taken more than three hundred lives in Bihar. The flood of this year got particularly devastating as it is stretching for much more days and spreading in new areas. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that Assam which was affected by floods for two months suffered around 150 casualties but just in two weeks the casualties in Bihar is almost double.
This year, Bihar has seen three phases of floods. First, the cloud burst and incessant rain for three days in Nepal and parts of North Bihar which triggered flood in Araria, Kishangang, Purnia, Supaul and other adjoining districts. The gush of the flood water even in urban areas in these districts has caused unprecedented catastrophes. Subsequently, continuous raining in Nepal and North Bihar led to the overflow in the small rivers likes of Adhaura groups of rivers, Harbara Mechi, Bakra causing flood in most part of North Bihar. Even before the flood water brought by these river receded, embankment of major rivers Burhi Gandak, Kamla Balan, Mahananda and Kosi got breached, further aggravating the situation.
The embankment on Kamla Balan river was breached causing flood in Samastipur and Darbhanga. On Sunday, similar breaching took place in the embankment of Burhi Gandak causing flood in Muzaffarpur.
300 villages in Madhubani alone have submerged in the water. The situation is more or less similar in the 20 affected districts in the State. The pressure is now started to build on the Ganga, which is principle carrier of all the water flowing through the rivers of the State. Luckily, it is not raining in districts south of Ganga which could have further deteriorated the situation.
Reports coming from interior waterlogged villages of different districts are suggesting that even after more than a week, the government relief has not yet reached to them. Villagers are struggling for shelter, food and drinking water. The flood has particularly taken a toll of Women’s privacy. Several cases of child birth have been reported. Self help groups, locals and individuals have taken on the rescue and relief work on their own.
On the part of government, 28 teams of NDRF along with 16 teams of SDRF are striving for rescue and relief of more than 1.26 crore affected people. Although, state government has ordered for amplifying in the intensity of relief and rehabilitation, given the sheer extent of the flood, there is no sign at sight that the cloud of trouble is going to subside anytime soon.
