India's flood-hit Bihar gears up for massive rehabilitation programme

Sep 5, 2008, 9:09 GMT

New Delhi - India's eastern state of Bihar is preparing a massive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme after floods inundated more than 100,000 hectares of land, affecting more than 3.5 million people, officials said Friday.

Towns and villages across large swathes of the state have been flooded for more than a fortnight after the Kosi river breached its embankment in neighboring Nepal following heavy monsoon rains.

'The evacuation is more or less over,' Pratyay Amrit, Bihar's top disaster management official, said via telephone, adding that 15,000 to 20,000 people were still marooned in their homes but were refusing to leave as the floodwaters had marginally receded.

'Army personnel (who are carrying out rescue operations) are telling us they don't want to leave their homes and we have reports of at least 500 to 1,000 people leaving relief camps to return to their villages,' Amrit said. This development was 'alarming' as the monsoon season had not yet ended and the Kosi river could rise again, he said.

The administration was airdropping pamphlets along with food packets, requesting the remaining villagers to leave their homes and also aired similar messages over the radio.

Amrit said the administration faced a Herculean task in terms of relief and rehabilitation with more than half a million families suffering losses of property, crops and cattle, many of them being homeless.

He said at least 300,000 people were being housed in 260 to 270 relief camps which had adequate provisions for food and medical teams. 'Initial problems regarding sanitation have been sorted out,' he added. 'We are constantly monitoring the camps to prevent outbreaks of any diseases.'

The Bihar government has set up a high-level committee headed by the development commissioner to draw up plans for rehabilitation and reconstruction, Amrit said. 'The first meeting was held on Thursday and the panel also met a World Bank team,' he said.

'This is not a normal flood,' Amrit said. 'We will be able to assess the true extent of the damage only after October 15, after the waters have receded,' he added. 'Historical data shows that the Kosi's discharge stabilizes around that time.'

The bodies of 80 people who died due to the floods have been recovered, the official said, dismissing reports that the toll could be much higher. Some non-governmental organizations said the figure could be higher as at least 2,000 people were missing.

Meanwhile, the flood situation was grim in north-eastern Assam state, with the river Bramhaputra and its tributaries breaching more embankments, IANS news agency reported.

The death toll in the current floods in Assam stands at 16 and about 1.2 million people have been affected.

A total of 1,844 people have died this year in 15 of India's 29 states in floods brought on by the annual monsoon rains that last from June to September.