750K Stranded by India Floods, 500K Evacuated, Food Riots

[sharon sanders]

Food riots as Indian floods destroy 250,000 homes
27 Aug 2008 08:54:31 GMT
<!-- 27 Aug 2008 08:54:31 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove --> Source: Reuters

<!-- AN5.0 article title end --> <script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.alertnet.org/bin/js/article.js"></script> <input value="13" name="CurrentSize" id="CurrentSize" type="hidden"> <!-- Food riots as Indian floods destroy 250,000 homes --> <!-- Reuters --> PATNA, India, Aug 27 (Reuters) -

Food riots erupted on Wednesday in eastern India, where more than two million people have been forced from their homes and about 250,000 houses destroyed in what officials say are the worst floods in 50 years. Those displaced by the floods are not expected to be able to return home for another two or three months, when the embankment is repaired and the river moves back to its normal course.

One person was killed in Madhepura district when angry villagers fought among themselves over limited supplies of food and medicines at overcrowded relief centres.

The Kosi river in Bihar, one of India's poorest states, smashed through mud embankments and changed course last week, unleashing huge walls of water that inundated hundreds of villages and towns. The floods have since killed nearly 50 people in Bihar. Torrential rains have killed more than 1,000 people in South Asia since the monsoon began in June, mainly in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh but also in Nepal and Bangladesh. Some experts blame the floods on heavier monsoon rains caused by global warming, while others say authorities have failed to take enough preventive measures to improve infrastructure.

Officials said flood victims had looted grains at some places in Bihar. Others ran for miles under helicopters that were dropping food packets. One boy was killed and about 30 people were injured in Supaul district when food packets fell on them.

"We have enough stock of food grains but the problem is that we have limited means of transport to supply them among the villagers," Rajesh Kumar Gupta, a government official in Madhepura, told Reuters by telephone. Several prisoners took advantage of the floods and escaped from a jail in Supaul on Tuesday night, officials said. "We are having difficulty in getting the exact number of prisoners who fled since communication networks have totally snapped," said Nitish Kumar, Bihar's chief minister. The U.N. children's fund UNICEF said roads had been damaged and water and electricity supplies disrupted in the affected areas. Railway tracks have been submerged and essential commodities, including food, are being transported by boat. FLOATING ON TREE TRUNKS "We are appealing to villagers to evacuate the (flooded) areas," Bihar's Kumar said in a radio address on Tuesday. "They must understand that they are right in middle of the river and the monsoon season is still in progress." Local people call the Kosi the " Sorrow of Bihar" for its regular floods and ability to change course quickly. It originates in Nepal, where it broke a dam last week. UNICEF said cases of diarrhoea and fever were being reported in makeshift camps. "The weather has been extremely hot, aggravating the suffering of the displaced population, particularly for children, pregnant and lactating women and the aged," it said. Television images showed people using banana tree trunks and cots to stay afloat, some even with their cattle and goats. Officials said floods had destroyed more than 227,000 homes and damaged about 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of wheat and paddy crops. Last year, floods in eastern India and Bangladesh killed around 2,000 people. Millions were affected and officials fear climate change will make similar disasters more frequent. Engineers began repairing the broken dam on the Kosi river in Nepal on Wednesday to prevent it from causing further damage. (Additional reporting by Gopal Sharma in Nepal; Writing by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by Paul Tait)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BOM283140.htm

 

[Shiloh]

Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/31/india.flooding

Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood
* Gethin Chamberlain
* The Observer,
* Sunday August 31 2008

Flooding has forced more than two million people from their homes in the Indian state of Bihar and claimed at least 85 lives.

The death toll includes 20 people who drowned when an overloaded rescue boat overturned.

Heavy rain and damage to roads have hampered attempts to reach those stranded after the river Kosi changed course and flooded large areas of the eastern state. Almost 1,500 soldiers have boosted rescue efforts and air force helicopters have dropped food to hundreds of thousands of stranded people.

But the government said the rain had grounded helicopters. It has announced a ?125m aid effort amid warnings that disease would be the next problem in the region.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

Re: Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

From Times Online
August 28, 2008
Corrupt officials blamed for Kosi flood that leaves millions homeless in India

(Krishna Murari Kishan/Reuters)
More than 250,000 homes have been destroyed by the floods in Bihar India

Two million people have been left homeless and scores killed by the worst flooding in India in half a century, amid allegations that river defences were neglected by corrupt officials.

The waters rose in the state of Bihar after the Kosi river, swollen by monsoon rains, burst an upstream dam in Nepal ten days ago. The waterway reverted to a heavily populated course it last flowed along 250 years ago, killing at least 55 people, destroying 250,000 homes and leaving thousands of acres submerged.

Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, today called the floods "a national calamity" and announced £114 million in relief for the area. The death toll is expected to soar as water-borne diseases such as dysentery take hold. Food riots have already broken out in several areas.

Experts said that a river embankment in Nepal — for which the Indian government is responsible under a treaty between the two countries — failed on August 18 when the river was flowing at only about a sixth of the design capacity of the defence. Locals who noted that the river was about to breach the embankment three days before it did were ignored.

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MULTIMEDIA
Pictures: Indian floods
Himanshu Thakkar, of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, a specialist think tank, said: "That the embankment failed when it did shows just how seriously ill-maintained it was."

He added: "We see this time and again: that money is allocated [to flood defences] but nothing happens on the ground. There are never any consequences. Government officials are unaccountable."

Villagers stranded in remote areas of Bihar were forced to resort to text messages in desperate attempts to summon help. One, from Sanjeev Kumar, a victim of the flood, read: "Time is running out for me and there is no relief in sight and I have not eaten for days."

The Ministry of Water Resources, the department responsible for the embankment's maintenance, did not respond to a request for comment. Officials have claimed that locals refused them entry to key sites.

Bihar, one of India's poorest states, sits just below Nepal in the northeast of the country. Some 247,000 acres of vegetables, wheat and paddy crops in the region have been destroyed by the deluge.

At least one person was killed in the Madhepura district as angry villagers fought over limited supplies of food and medicines at overcrowded relief centres.

Flood victims had looted grain at some places in Bihar, according to officials. Others ran for miles under helicopters that were dropping food packets.

One boy was killed and about 30 people were injured in Supaul district when food packets fell on them.

The UN children's fund UNICEF said that roads had been damaged and water and electricity supplies disrupted. Cases of diarrhoea and fever were reported in the 300 makeshift camps set up to deal with the emergency.

"The weather has been extremely hot, aggravating the suffering of the displaced population, particularly for children, pregnant and lactating women and the aged," UNICEF said

Several prisoners took advantage of the floods to escape from a jail in Supaul on Tuesday night.

"We are having difficulty in getting the exact number of prisoners who fled since communication networks have totally snapped," said Nitish Kumar, Bihar's chief minister.

Those displaced by the floods are not expected to be able to return home for another two or three months, when the embankment is repaired and the river returns to its normal course.

Engineers began repairing the broken dam on the Kosi river in Nepal on Wednesday to prevent it from causing further damage.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4624947.ece

 

[mixin]

Half a Million People Remain Stranded

Half a Million People Remain Stranded

Indian floods cut off thousands
Half a million people in the Indian state of Bihar remain stranded in villages which have been devastated by massive flooding, officials say.

A BBC correspondent reports chaotic scenes as soldiers try to reach those cut off and people attempt to scramble from rooftops into rescue boats.

With 1.2 million people homeless, India is struggling to cope with the crisis.

The flood waters are spreading to new areas, and conditions in relief camps are overcrowded and unsanitary.

The floods are known to have killed at least 75 people in Bihar but the death toll could climb once the situation in remote areas emerges.

Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced in neighbouring Nepal where some of those who have lost their homes are camping under plastic sheets.

Disorganisation
Visiting the Bageecha relief camp in Purnea, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder could find no camp co-ordinator or government official in charge of distributing aid.

Trucks and vans carrying relief material stood parked on the highway as volunteers waited to be organised.

Several tonnes of aid had arrived but the volunteers were not quite sure how to distribute it.

The situation was symptomatic of what was happening across Bihar's flood-affected areas, our correspondent says.

The disaster began on 18 August when a dam burst on the Saptakoshi river in Nepal.

The Saptakoshi, which becomes the Kosi when it enters India, subsequently broke its banks in Bihar.

Officials in Nepal say hundreds of people there have been hit by illnesses such as diarrhoea and pneumonia and an estimated 50,000 are homeless.

They say nearly 1,000 houses have been completely destroyed. Power supplies and transport have been severely affected.

The costs to the economy are now estimated at one billion Nepalese rupees ($14.25m).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7591006.stm

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

Re: Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

Bihar flood situation worsens as new areas go under water

Agencies
Posted online: Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 1935 hrs


Patna, August 31::

With the water of river Kosi engulfing fresh areas in Bihar's North Eastern 16 districts, the flood situation in the state worsened on Sunday affecting more than 30 lakh people.

However, there was some good news for the first time since the region was gripped by the deluge about two weeks ago with a senior official saying the flood situation would improve as the flow of water from Nepal has come down.

Over 30 lakh people in 16 districts are in the grip of floods, with 23 lakh in worst-hit Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura and Araria districts alone.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said five army columns have been pressed into service for relief and rescue, while the state has requisitioned 25 more columns.

IAF helicopters and army columns deployed to assist the state Government's flood fighting machinery continued relief and evacuation operations.

The floods caused by the breach in the eastern afflux embankment at upstream Kuaha village in Nepal on August 18 is the worst in the region.

The area was considered secure against the possibilities of floods after construction of hundreds of miles of embankments and Bheemnagar barrage more than four decades ago.

Though Disaster Management Additional Secretary Pratayaya Amrit said while over 4.75 lakh people have been evacuated, lakhs more were in dire need of being shifted to safer places.

Amrit said about two lakh people were taking shelter in 17 relief camps set up by the state governments and many more being run by non-government organisations (NGOs).

Amrit said Nepal Government had agreed to help India in taming the river which causes huge damage to infrastructure in Bihar.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/355602.html

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

Re: Disease outbreak feared in wake of flood in Bihar

AP Video - 750 villages under water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_WizimePbU

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: 750K Stranded by India Floods, 500K Evacuated, Food Riots

Description of Bihar State -

Bihar is located in the eastern part of the country (between 83?-30' to 88?-00' longitude). It is an entirely land?locked state, although the outlet to the sea through the port of Kolkata is not far away. Bihar lies mid-way between the humid West Bengal in the east and the sub humid Uttar Pradesh in the west which provides it with a transitional position in respect of climate, economy and culture. It is bounded by Nepal in the north and by Jharkhand in the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two unequal halves by the river Ganga which flows through the middle from west to east.

Population per 2001 census - 82,878,796


http://gov.bih.nic.in/

Map -







http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:India_Bihar_locator_map.svg

 

[Treyfish]

Re: 750K Stranded by India Floods, 500K Evacuated, Food Riots

Disease kills children in India flood camps

Children who fled their homes to escape floods in northern India are dying from disease because of dirty contaminated water and a lack of decent toilets and washing facilities in the camps where they are living.

Tuesday 9 September 2008
Save the Children has heard reports that 32 children have died from diarrhoea, vomiting and fever in Araria and Sapaul camps in Bihar province. The international children?s charity fears that without more help this number will rise.
Thomas Chandy, head of Save the Children in India said: ?Conditions in these flood camps are terrible. People use the same stagnant water for bathing as well as washing their clothes and utensils. With little else to occupy them, children are playing around in this water and inadvertently drinking it and getting sick. ?
It is now three weeks since floodwaters first breached the banks of the Kosi river and many areas are still submerged. Families have officially been warned that they shouldn?t return home while the threat of flooding continues, even in areas where water levels are receding. The Indian meteorological office predicts further rain in the next few days.
Mr Chandy said: ?This emergency is far from over. Some children will be living in relief camps for another six months and without big improvements more of them will die of disease. Young children are particularly susceptible to water-borne diseases, like diarrhoea, which are a huge risk in a situation like this.?
The flooding in northern India is currently affecting five million people, including three million children. Save the Children is calling on world governments to donate money to this emergency to help aid agencies respond to the needs of these children.
Save the Children's response

Save the Children has started a relief operation in Araria, one of the worst affected districts bordering Nepal, and is currently reaching 1,500 families, including around 6,000 children with food distribution and clean drinking water. The charity has opened a community kitchen in the relief camps so that families that lost all their belongings including cooking utensils can cook for themselves.
More information

• Read more about the emergency in India and Save the Children's immediate response
• Make a donation to support our emergency work in India.
  :tiphat: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/39_6607.htm

 

[Treyfish]

Re: 750K Stranded by India Floods, 500K Evacuated, Food Riots

Indian Floodwaters Recede; Threat of Disease Remains (Update1)

By Jay Shankar
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Floodwaters that inundated 31 districts and affected more than 6 million people in India's northeastern states of Assam and Bihar have started to recede although the threat of disease remains, officials said.
``The situation has vastly improved over the last three to four days,'' V.K. Piparsania, Assam's principal secretary for disaster management, said by telephone from the state capital, Guwahati. ``People have started going back to their homes.''
Floodwaters killed 108 people and forced 322,270 into government-run relief camps in the states. In Assam, the 2,906- kilometer (1,802-mile) Brahmaputra River, which originates in Tibet and snakes through the state and Bangladesh, breached embankments in 57 places, inundating villages.
The Kosi River burst a dam in neighboring Nepal on Aug. 18, flooding Bihar's Supaul district 7 kilometers downstream. The river changed course and shifted 120 kilometers eastward, inundating 16 districts in Bihar, one of India's poorest states.
India's June-September annual monsoon season accounts for four-fifths of the country's rainfall and this year triggered flash floods that killed 1,906 people, according to the federal National Disaster Management Division.
Relief supplies still haven't reached many villagers in Assam, said Dibyajyoti Dutta of the charity ActionAid. ``There is no safe drinking water, no ample food and shelter,'' he said by telephone from Guwahati.
Paddy Fields
About 4,934 villages were affected by floods and 217,710 hectares (537,973 acres) of land, including 53,448 hectares of paddy fields, were submerged, Dutta said.
Waters have also started to recede in India's worst-hit state of Bihar, Disaster Management Additional Commissioner Pratayaya Amrit said by telephone from the state capital, Patna. ``There are 270,000 people in relief camps,'' he said, adding the government is now ``focusing on health and sanitation.''
Lack of sanitation and stagnant water, which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, are creating an ``excellent recipe for disease,'' Balaji Singh, emergency coordinator for aid group CARE India, said in a telephone interview from New Delhi.
Diarrhea, Malaria
Diarrhea, malaria and medical disorders related to lack of nutrition are possible, Singh said.
About 1,850 villages inhabited by 3.3 million people in Bihar were flooded, the World Health Organization said Sept. 4.
A disease surveillance system put in place by the United Nations Children's Fund and the government has tracked 27,253 cases of fever, 179 cases of fever with rash, 14 cases of jaundice, 11,612 cases of respiratory tract infections and 3,267 cases of diarrhea in relief camps in Bihar, Unicef said in a statement today.
In neighboring Bangladesh, there was also flooding, though not to the same extent, said Masud Siddiqui, director-general of the country's Disaster Management Bureau.
``It is not a grave situation in Bangladesh,'' Siddiqui said by telephone from the capital, Dhaka. More than a third of the country's 64 districts experienced some flooding and at least 800,000 people were affected, with five deaths, :surrender: he said.
There are about 150,000 people marooned in low-lying areas, he said, adding 15,000 people are in relief camps.
``The government is providing relief material such as rice and tents for temporary shelter,'' he said. ``Our soldiers are in the field and water is receding in most of the rivers.'' :tiphat: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aFs8kzE4Hhk0&refer=healthcare

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: 750K Stranded by India Floods, 500K Evacuated, Food Riots

BIHAR, India, Sept. 9 / Entire villages have been washed away in India's northern state of Bihar after a deadly combination of monsoon rains and a dam burst caused a deluge that spreads over countless miles of farming land. IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare -- http://www.ifaw.org) deployed an Emergency Relief team to the impacted area and has since treated and fed over 6000 starving livestock that escaped the fury of the catastrophic floods.

On August 18th, a flash flood resulting from a broken embankment on the river Kosi in neighbouring Nepal swept away thousands of human beings and animals with many villages wiped off the face of the earth. Millions of people and cattle are staying in makeshift camps made out of plastic sheets and bamboo. The army and para-military forces have also put up tented camps.

Coordinating with the government rescue and relief machinery, the 10-member team, which includes veterinarians and animal care staff, has been making daily forays inside the flood hit areas by boat and by four wheel drives wherever possible.

"The footprint of the flood is huge and we have been concentrating only in a small but very badly affected area in the Araria and Supaul district," said Dr. Anjan Talukdar, IFAW team veterinarian. The team is also being helped by volunteers from IFAW's Emergency Relief Network in India.

Although the water is slowly receding and has drained out of several villages in the two districts, the people are unable to return home. Locals estimate the number of cattle in the area to be about 24,000. Many more are still marooned in the interiors with no food for three weeks now.

As the water level recedes, the rotting carcasses of many animals that are not being saved from the floods could pose a threat of spreading diseases. The ER team is travelling to marooned areas to help animals as well as educating animal owners on precautions to prevent worm infestations and disease outbreaks.

Northern Bihar consisting of Supaul, Madhepura, Araria, Purnea, Kishangaj districts bordering Nepal and Bangladesh is agricultural country, rich with cattle considered maal or wealth. "People value their livestock here and won't just let it go. Those who left animals behind were forced to. They are as dear to them as their children" Ajatshatru Singh, a local leader said.

Pradyut Jha was one such farmer who stayed back at the Chainpur village with his cattle. The village looked like a tidal surge had gone through it. Whole trees had been uprooted. All the bamboo and mud huts had collapsed. The brick and mud houses were damp and dripping. Water was flowing through parts of the village. As the boats came close to the village, the IFAW team waded through waist deep water to get to get inside. Snakes swam away as they waded forward. The team found 10 cows and three goats on a platform with one recently dead cow amidst them. The animals were listless, mouthing some dry straw and looked very weak.

The team immediately got to work mixing vitamins and nutritional supplements with the straw. "If animals don't get food for a long time they start losing interest in food and don't have the strength to eat. This is thus a vicious cycle which makes them weaker and therefore prone to infections and a slow death. So we need to first break this cycle by making them interested in food and once they have the strength to eat they will slowly regain their stamina," Dr Talukdar said. The cows seemed to respond to the taste and had started eating a little more purposefully.

"It is actually providential that the water continues to flow and is not stagnating, because stagnant water is the root cause of all infections and disease. I think we are looking at a long haul here. I don't see this situation stabilising for at least four months. Certain areas which have been completely devastated might take even longer," said Chandan Singh Executive Director for humanitarian NGO, GreenPower India, who has been active in the human relief effort and also has two veterinarians working with him..

About WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), is a non-profit conservation organisation, committed to urgent action that prevents destruction of India's wildlife. Formed in November 1998, WTI was created in response to the rapidly deteriorating condition of wildlife in India.

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicin...ons-Underway-in-Flooded-Bihar--India-26184-1/