Millions of people displaced by Bihar floods

More than 2.5 million people have been affected after the Kosi river changed course and flooded areas which are not usually affected by Monsoon floods. The situation in flood-hit Bihar is expected to worsen as water levels rise after fresh rains.

Hundreds of villages in 15 districts are still flooded after the Kosi river breached an embankment upstream in Nepal and changed course.

"We anticipate that things will get worse since the broken embankment is widening. It is likely that more villages will be marooned in the coming week," said Vinay Ohdar who manages ActionAid's work in Bihar.

Roads are flooded which is hampering rescue and relief efforts. Water levels on the national highway connecting the capital New Delhi with Bihar’s state capital Patna are so high in some places that cars and jeeps cannot get through.

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ActionAid and its partners have set up six camps in the worst affected Supaul district providing much needed shelter,food, medicine and tarpaulin sheets.

"Our immediate focus is on providing food and medical aid to women and young mothers and setting up shelters for the stranded,” said Ohdar.

Food is also being provided to villagers who have fled to higher ground.

"Families have left their villages for any high ground. They will not be able to go back home for a long time as long as their villages remain waterlogged," said Ohdar.

Emergency teams have provided survivors with and jerry cans to store water as hand pumps for fresh water supply has been set up.

Parvinder Singh of ActionAid India who spoke to survivors in some of the camps said many of them are already reporting cases of diarrhoea.

"In a disaster situation women and children are worst affected and their needs are often ignored especially the needs of lactating, pregnant and menstruating women. Their needs must be reflected in disaster response and relief assistance," said PV Unnikrishnan, ActionAid’s emergencies advisor for Asia.

"Best practices in emergency response suggest that local communities be engaged and local knowledge be used to identify the most vulnerable," he added.

photo : ©ActionAid