State of neglect: Deluged Bihar falls off Govt map

The flood situation in Bihar has worsened with most major rivers in spate following heavy rains in their catchments over the past few days. At least 15 lakh people are displaced and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said the river Kosi will continue to be in spate for the next two months.

The floods in the eastern state bordering Nepal are a result of the breach in the eastern Kosi embankment in Nepal. The consequent floods in the bordering districts of Bihar have caused widespread havoc.

Scores of people are dead and nearly two million affected. Among the worst hit districts are Madhepura, Bhagalpur, Araria, West Champaran, Purnea, Samastipur and Supaul. People have been fleeing their villages for higher lands and safety. Faced with unprecedented human suffering, the Chief Minister has called for Rs 1000 crore of aid and one lakh metric tonnes of rice.

However, as people in Bihar continue to suffer, the politicians are playing the blame game. There are allegations of corruption even in the distribution of relief. It indicates that not just other parts of the country, but also the people of Bihar have given up on the state.

Does India care about Bihar? And importantly, do people of Bihar care about Bihar? CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose asked this on Face The Nation.

On the panel to debate the question was Vice President, Commonwealth Medical Association Dr Ajay Kumar; Former Union agriculture secretary, one of the many eminent bureaucrats that Bihar has given India, Radha Singh; Author of The Making of Laloo Yadav-the Unmaking of Bihar and senior editor of The Telegraph, Sankarshan Thakur.

When the Gujarat earthquake took place in 2001, the nation witnessed an unprecedented effort by the Gujarati community from across the world and in India, rushing aid, going to Gujarat and participating in reconstructions.

Absence of a civil society?

The first point of debate was why doesn’t Bihar have a conscious civil society on the lines of the one in Gujarat?

“Because there isn’t one,” answered Sankarshan Thakur.

However, he said that the question whether the people of Bihar care about Bihar is a far more relevant question.

“It is about time that people of Bihar stop whining about the other parts of the country caring less about them. They need to start caring about themselves. That has not happened in a long time. The floods are not something new. The scale may be unprecedented and the TV cameras may be on Bihar. But this happens year after year,” Sankarshan said.

He added, “In my village, not very far off the Kosi belt, the bridge that links my village to the main road was breached in 2003 and is still not being built. It’s a huge area that the bridge links. I don’t see any reason why it is not being rebuilt. Many such bridges should have been built.”

He pointed out a blame game is being played. However, he said, it was pointless.

Is there hope?

Is it a cultural hopelessness that nothing will happen because the problems are so deep?

Radha Singh had earlier on the show said that there is a need of ‘Bihari Asmita’ and ‘Bihari pride’ to take over and become a positive force in improvement of Bihar.

However, why do we see Bihar becoming more of a byword for destitution and for grinding poverty, which may be making India ignore Bihar and exclude the state from the future dream?

“I would not say that India is ignoring Bihar,” said Radha.

However, she said that the kind of attention that needs to be given to a state, which is having problems and cannot manage alone, is not adequate enough.

But Sankarshan Thakur pointed out that no one else but the people of Bihar are to be blamed for their problems. “Do not blame the Centre,” he said.

Radha defended her argument and said, “I am not blaming the Centre. I am saying the kind of attention to be given, because of problems that the state has been facing, is not adequate.”

Having said that, she also added, “Many more people in Bihar are capable of doing much more than what they are already doing for the state. I also endorse the view that was mentioned by Dr Abhay Singh that people of Bihar are capable of doing much more.”

Alienating Bihar?

Does it hurt when Goa minister Ravi Naik said that people of Bihar are coming across and bringing poverty, when Raj Thackeray said that the people of Bihar must get out of Maharashtra? When racism and prejudice is directed against the people of Bihar, does it hurt and one feel that there is something that one must do for the state?

“When I am outside India, I am a proud Indian and when I hear anything against India, I always retaliate. Being in India, I am a proud Bihari and I always try to retaliate to what others say about Bihar,” Ajay answered.

He added, “The state has some problems like other states. But what Bihar is facing, the nation must know.”

Listing out the problems that ail Bihar, Ajay explained, “We face Bangladesh on the eastern side and on the northern side, we have Naxalite infested state Nepal, which is creating problems for us. And from Andhra, through Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, we again face the Naxals. These are just one set of problems.”

“The second is the flood situation in Bihar,” he said.

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“Do you think it is because of the water in Bihar,” asked Ajay with charged emotions.

Explaining the flood situation in Bihar, he said, “The real problem is that 1.5 lakh usage water is left from Nepal. They are threatening to leave some more. Because of the water being left from there, we have a problem in Bihar.”

“We are facing a political problem, we are facing natural calamities, but what is the Centre doing for us,” he asked.

He agreed with the other panelists that the people of Bihar should put in more efforts. However, he said, “Some people from Bihar go out and even change their accent to claim that they are not Biharis.”

In such situations, he said, “There should be Biharis like Dr Ajay Kumar, Radha Singh and Thakur to come back to Bihar and do the work rather than sit outside.”

Given up?

Have the people of Bihar written-off Bihar? Have the elite people of Bihar simply seceded from Bihar?

Sankarshan Thakur said even though he does not live in Bihar, he is a proud Bihari. “Just because I criticise things in Bihar, I am no less proud Bihari but pride in Bihar should not blind you to what ails that state,” he said.

Man-made flood

Discussing the issue that Nepal has let loose water, Thakur said, “I knew this would come up.”

However, he pointed out, “Scientists and water management people have been predicting this breach for at least a month now. People on both sides of the border have been sitting and watching the breach. There is a dispute, I am told, between the Bihari contractors and Nepali contractors on what amounts will be paid to keep the embankments and barrage in place.”

He said, “This is a man made flood that is taking so many lives. I spoke to people in Indian Embassy in Nepal today and they told me that Bihar government did not alert them alarmingly enough of what the situation of the Kosi River was.

Bihar Syndrome: Who is responsible?

Meanwhile, as the floods in Bihar have nearly devastated the state, politicians in Bihar are playing a blame game. Laloo Yadav accused Nitish of criminal negligence.

Are the politicians to be blamed for problems in Bihar?

“In my book The Making of Laloo Yadav-the Unmaking of Bihar, I said that Laloo came to an already destroyed Bihar. He made it worse. The Congress had already destroyed it by the time he came.”

He, however said, “The blame game will continue. The point is that the barrage that has been breached was built in early 1960's with a stated life span of 40 years. That expired somewhere in 2003. The date was already over.”

Who is to be blamed?

Thakur argued, “Somebody over the last four years should have raised an alarm. It has been six years.”

Is it the politicians with their caste-based agenda, is it the lack of civil society or is it the Central Government’s neglect? What ails Bihar?

Answering the question, Thakur said, “I plead guilty to the charge that I am one of those who stays out of Bihar for a living. The point is there is no active civil society in Bihar at the moment. The point is someone, somewhere from 2003 till today should have said that the barrage is expired.”

Debating how the educated elite stays outside Bihar, Sagarika asked, “Is it the poverty and the problems in Bihar that the educated Bihari has simply migrated?”

Keeping away from the argument, Radha reverted to the main issue of the floods and said, “The present instance would have probably not happened if historically one looked at how this project had developed. If the high dam had been pursued seriously enough, the problem could have been averted.”

“There is a deficit in our development diplomacy,” she argued.

Meanwhile, concluding the debate Sagarika said that the Panelists are in agreement that not only the nation but also the people of Bihar have given up on the state.

Results of the SMS/Web poll: Bihar Floods: Does India care about Bihar?

Yes: 61 per cent

No: 39 per cent