WUNRN
WOMEN & CHILDREN
INDIA DEVASTATED BY MONSOON FLOODS
Flood-affected people carrying their belongings move to safer places at Madhepura town in India's eastern state of Bihar August 29, 2008. Villagers were eating uncooked rice and flour mixed with polluted water in an eastern Indian state, officials said on Friday, as hunger and diseases accompanied the worst-ever floods in 50 years. The Kosi river burst a dam in neighbouring Nepal earlier this month and surged into Bihar state, swamping village after village as authorities failed to evacuate millions on time. REUTERS/Krishna Murari Kishan (INDIA)
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL247788.htm
INDIAN VILLAGERS DESPARATE AS
MONSOON FLOOD SPREADS
29 Aug 2008
Reuters
By Sunil Kataria
PATRAGHAT, India, Aug 29 (Reuters) -
A boat carrying dozens of flood victims overturned in eastern India, killing at
least 20 people and raising to 85 the death toll while hunger and disease
stalked the worst-ever floods in 50 years.
Authorities said the overcrowded
army boat capsized in strong river current and 10 more villagers were still
missing.
The Kosi river burst a dam in
neighbouring Nepal earlier this month and surged into Bihar, swamping village
after village as authorities failed to evacuate millions in time.
Villagers were eating uncooked rice
and flour mixed with polluted water, officials said on Friday as the rising
river waters smashed embankments and flooded vast areas in the state.
More than two million people in
distant villages in Bihar have been displaced and around a quarter of a million
houses have been destroyed. Many have no means of cooking food.
Floods 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, where 785 people lost their lives, while other
deaths were reported from Nepal and Bangladesh.
Thousands of people, carrying all
their belongings on their heads, walked away from their flooded homes through
narrow and submerged roads. Many children rode on their cows and buffalos.
"We've lost our homes, we've
lost our clothes, we've lost everything ...," said Bijender, a villager
walking along a road with his child.
"We are taking our children and
leaving and we don't even know where we are going."
Water levels continued to rise amid
heavy rains. The water could stay for around three months, increasing the risk
of water-borne diseases.
Some experts blame the floods on
heavier monsoon rains caused by global warming, while others say authorities
have failed to take preventive measures and improve infrastructure.
RAW RICE
"My hungry children are crying
and we are eating raw rice without boiling it," said Amit Kumar from
Supaul district, the worst-hit by floods this year.
Some are eating corn flour mixed
with water to survive.
"I know how villagers are
somehow managing to keep themselves alive by eating whatever food is available
to them," Nitish Mishra, the state disaster management minister, told
Reuters.
"It is not easy to distribute
food to over two million displaced villagers, I know their condition."
Officials said bad weather and
strong currents were preventing them from providing aid to remote areas.
Surging waters have swamped 100,000
hectares (247,000 acres) of farmland, destroying wheat and paddy crops worth
millions of rupees, officials said.
Helpless villagers have grabbed
boats, planks or have taken refuge on rooftops to save themselves from floods.
Some set their cattle loose before
fleeing as the animals had gone without food for days.
Diseases like diarrhoea were
reported from many government-run camps in the state.
"The camps are not organised
yet and we are receiving reports of diseases," said Mukesh Puri of the
UNICEF.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, flew over devastated areas by
helicopter on Thursday and announced $228 million in aid. (Writing by Bappa
Majumdar; Editing by Alistair Scrutton, David Fox and Dina Kyriakidou)
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Millions Are Displaced by Floods in
India
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