Click to play videoAraria: The Bihar floods have swept away not just houses. It has taken away people’s sense of security and hope.
Yet they soldier on, trying to create a livelihood from nothing. It is as though they are grateful to be even alive.
Kaushlya Devi is one such brave woman, trying to set up a new home.
To construct a roof for her house, she has a polythene sheet and the thin bamboo sticks will serve as walls and pillars.
Worse still is the fact that the woman has to work alone. Her husband Sukhi Ram has been running a high fever since the last three days.
The couple has taken refuge on the national Highway in Araria and it is almost like being back from hell. They have no belongings. Everything was swept away by the floods.
With the waters showing no signs of subsiding, lakhs of flood victims are now living on the edge.
A large number of them are spending their days and nights on the highways. A few lucky ones have found refuge in relief camps. But at both these places it’s a struggle to keep life going.
Every second day a child gets knocked down by a speeding vehicle. Drinking water is the scarcest commodity. Sanitation has taken a back seat and no one even talks about it.
Getting out of floodwater did not end their misery. Rather, the real trauma started after that.
Leaving behind their homes & fields submerged under water, they are living on the national highway in make shift tents.
The life they lead has diminished the difference between human beings & animals. They all co-exist here peacefully.
That the proximity between human beings and cattle could spell a health disaster is not the immediate worry. Survival is, however a big concern.
Their eyes glued to the television screens; this group is anxiously keeping a tab on flood related news.
And when its bedtime, people sleep in turns.because of the space crunch.
“I have no place to sleep, I'm managing somehow,” said one such harassed soul.
With no reserves, these people are bracing themselves for the big battle of life that lies ahead.
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