India | Updated Aug 28, 2008 at 02:32pm IST

Bihar: Relief ops begin as death toll mounts

Prabhakar Kumar, CNN-IBN

Patna: The situation in Bihar is very grim after River Kosi breached fresh ground on Wednesday, submerging many more villages and displacing thousands.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has warned that the river will remain in spate at least until October. Aid, he said is reaching the affected areas, but even those who have reached relief camps are finding the going tough.

Kausalya Devi has been sitting on a highway crying continuously over the past two days. She escaped the floodwaters with her elder son but in the commotion, her younger son and husband went missing.

Tales like Kausalya Devi's are splattered all over flood hit Bihar.

The misery does not end even for those who managed to reach the relief camps. Baby Devi was nine months pregnant, when she fled her village and reached a relief camp in Purnia. She has now delivered a baby girl, without any doctor to attend to her.

Across many areas of Bihar, floodwaters have changed the entire landscape. What was once the national highway has now been taken over by the River Kosi.

Lakhs of people are marooned and hundreds of villages are completely under water. People and even vehicles being swept away in the strong currents are a common sight.

Meanwhile, Even as the death toll mounts, the administration claims the relief operations have been efficient.

DM Purnia, Sridhar says, "A major relief camp has been started wherein in a systematic manner we are providing drinking water facilities, toilet facilities and mobile medical teams have been deputed."

But the flood victims do not vouch for that and as the waters of the River Kosi rise higher, more and more people are fleeing to higher ground.

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