At
least 800 people have been killed in monsoon-related accidents during
the heavy June-to-September rains across India, with impoverished
Bihar accounting for 24 deaths since 23 August, a government spokesman
said.
The following
information was received from the Church’s Auxiliary for Social
Action (CASA), India:
Situation
The
Kosi River, which gathers water from some of the highest mountains
in Nepal, including Everest, and enters India in north Bihar, changed
its course, and shifted over 120 km eastwards on 18 August 2008. In
the process it has rendered useless more than 300 km of embankments
that had been built to control its waters, and picked up a channel
it had abandoned over 200 years ago. The effect has been enormous,
inundating numerous towns and villages that were considered “flood
safe areas”, and that had not seen such floods for decades. The people
of Supaul, Madhepura, and Araria districts in Bihar had not reckoned
with the enormous force unleashed by 51 billion cubic metres of water.
The fear is that the three km-wide breach is growing by about 200
metres a day. The Bhimnagar barrage is just 12 km away, and should
the breach reach the barrage, huge inhabited areas would be flooded,
spelling an even bigger disaster. It is a catastrophe far greater
than the annual floods.
Over
two million people are reported to be affected by this disaster. Initial
reports say that over a hundred people have died so far, with two
million persons affected and over a million people homeless. People
from several villages have taken shelter along the roads as most of
their houses have been washed away in the flood waters. The districts
of Supaul, Saharsa, Araria, Madhepura, Katihar and Purnea have been
badly hit. Supaul District is the most impacted area (500,000 people
affected). Road linkages, water and electricity supply in the above
districts have been badly disrupted. Railway tracks in several places
have been submerged under water. Nearly 50,000 people are trapped
on the east-west corridor highway, while relief workers said people
have taken shelter on roof tops and trees in remote areas. According
to reports, the current inundation is so massive that it has totally
altered the habitation pattern of decades, if not centuries, with
the flood waters surging through relatively safe villages, farmlands,
fields, buildings and other infrastructure. Other major rivers like
Ganga, Ghaghra, Burhi Gandhak, Bagmati and Punpun were reported to
be flowing above the danger mark, giving sleepless nights to people.
Six
teams of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, along with the Army and
Air Force, have been pressed into action in the affected districts,
including four helicopters, 33 motorboats and over 150 other types
of boats. About 15,000 food packets have been airdropped and 71 relief
camps have been set up by the government so far. Official sources
of the state government of Bihar said that these were not the “normal”
Bihar floods, with the element of surprise rendering the situation
catastrophic.
The
state government, while sending out an SOS to the Central Government
of India, has issued an emergency appeal to all national and international
agencies to help the affected population, besides providing every
possible assistance to them. The Government’s efforts are proving
to be scant due to the sheer scale of the affected population. It
has been reported by the rescue workers that the situation was “chaotic,
sad and frustrating” with acute shortage of resources.
(Source:
Newspapers viz. The Times of India, The Indian Express and internet
sources)
Responses by CASA
CASA
has approved support for 5,000 families in the affected area of Bihar,
in the form of ready-to-eat food, i.e. one kg Jaggery (molasses) and
10 kg flattened rice, as an immediate response. The emergency staff
from CASA’s East Zone office are moving into the affected area, to
carry out this initial relief distribution and a first hand assessment
of the situation, and to establish a base camp with requisite infrastructure
and logistical support. Considering the devastation and scale of this
disaster, and also in view of the various ongoing emergency interventions
in East Zone, an inter-zonal team is being constituted comprising
experienced staff from other zonal offices of CASA to respond to this
major disaster.
Following
CASA contact with other ACT members in India:
o UELCI
is not contemplating any response to this emergency.
o LWS
is keeping a close watch on the situation and is not yet committed
to respond.
CASA
is treating this as a major catastrophe and is therefore planning
to intervene in a meaningful and substantial manner with a large-scale
program providing ready to eat food, dry ration kits, clothing utensils,
blankets, plastic sheets and some construction material as a short
term rehabilitation measure. CASA will soon be submitting a detailed
Appeal proposal comprising flood relief and short-term rehabilitation
in Bihar.
The
ACT CO awaits further information and proposals from ACT members in
India.
(Note: On
August 26 an RRF of $61,226 was issued to ACT member UELCI for their
response to the floods in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.)
