Flood fury in Bihar, thousands rendered homeless

Bhagalpur: Floods have not only rendered thousands homeless in Bihar but has also damaged crops and snapped road communication at several places.

Sunita Devi, a resident of Bhagalpur which is reported to be one of the worst affected areas, has been through the worst trauma a woman can undergo. Stranded in a make-shift flood relief camp, she had to give birth to her daughter six days back, without any medical help - and finding medicines for her are a problem as they are hard to come by.

"Giving birth without any medical help was really hard. To add to it there were no medicines and we still cannot arrange any," said Sunita.

The scale in Bihar may not be as big as the Kosi flood, the numbers may be less, but that does not lessen the misery of the people affected by the flood, who are facing the wrath of Ganges this year, making them homeless overnight.

From farmers, they are now reduced to being beggars, who are surviving on the government's relief material.

More stories of hardhsip and misery were heard when CNN-IBN reached ground zero like that of Dr Ranjeet, a lone homeopathic medical practitioner in the area. After his house went under water - he started to treat patients under a polythene sheet.

"I have to run my clinic like this. There is water all around! My house got submerged due to the floods and now I have no other option," said Dr Ranjeet Kumar.

The entire Gangetic basin of the state remains under water, and adding to worries are the rising levels of Kosi, Bagmati and Gandak rivers. Thousands are now surviving on high rise embankments, highways, railway lines and concrete buildings.

Official figures say that 12 out of the state's 38 districts are affected - Bhagalpur being the worst.

Despite assurances by the government, it has become obvious - on the ground - that there is much need for relief.

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